A Strange Raven
by Iverson1590
Summary: A confident, powerful final year student begins one the most dangerous lusts of all time...
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter Fanfic – Iverson/Bella Lestrange

The corridors of Hogwarts were silent. A pin drop could not be heard, except for the occasional breeze from the window. Suddenly, the silence was broken by the sound of swift, rushed footsteps, the crack echoing down the corridors. The source of this soon became apparent.

A student, a male. He was tall, well over six feet in height, slender, but broad shouldered, muscular and robust. His eyes, green with a tinge of blue from his mother, lips curled upwards into an ever-present smirk, and copper orange hair, shaved at the sides, while the top was either gelled or waxed into spikes. He was dashingly handsome, and had a mischievous, bad boy sort of look that girls would pine after. His rucksack, slung over his shoulder, dangling from his back, slamming into him every time he took a step, was half open. He was clearly in a rush.

He soon arrived at a door to a classroom, where he barged in hastily.

"So sorry I'm late Professor McGonagall…" the boy muttered, hastily taking his seat. He slumped down next to girl, who gave him an angry glare. She was slender, delicate looking, with long pink hair, that carried on halfway down her back. Her eyes were a dazzling bright blue, with an icy tinge, a stare that could pierce right into your soul.

"Mr Iverson, I did not return to this school in order to deal with pesky nuisances such as yourself! This is the third time this week!" screeched the Professor, looking sternly at him.

"You shall see me after the class young man!" she followed up.

Iverson let out a long sigh, and unpacked his books and parchment. He turned to the girl sat next to him, who was still glaring at him. She poked him sharply in between his ribs.

"Chris! Again? You have to sort this out!" she hissed at him through his quiet squeal of pain.

"Aurora! That hurt!" Chris replied, clutching at his ribs. He opened his textbook, and turned to the same page that Aurora was on. He scribbled his name on the top of the parchment in front of him, and began sucking at the end of his quill. He turned back to Aurora, meeting her eyes.

"I… I saw it again okay…" Chris muttered to Aurora.

Chris didn't know what he had been seeing, but on multiple occasions, his eyes had been drawn to something outside of his window, whilst residing in his dormitory. It was a black, wispy smoke, floating around the beginning of the Dark Forest. This morning was the sixth time he had seen the phenomenon, and was yet again the reason he was late to class. He had no idea what it was, but he was drawn to it, every time he noticed it.

"Chris! You have to ignore it! It's probably nothing, it might even be your imagination!" was Aurora's reply.

Barely had those words escaped her mouth, when a stern-looking Professor McGonagall walked over to their desk. She dropped a thick textbook down onto their desk, creating a loud bang. The noise was enough to make the two of them jump.

"Twycross! Iverson! Would you like to share something with the rest of the class?" She said angrily.

Chris looked back at the Professor, "No thank you Professor, sorry…" he said.

The Professor looked back at him disappointedly, "Don't expect to be getting any NEWTs with this attitude! The pair of you!"

Forty minutes later, the bell rang, and the students packed up their belongings. As Chris and Aurora stood up to leave, Professor McGonagall strode over to their desk.

"Mr Iverson, I haven't forgotten. A word, if you will?" She said quickly.

The rest of the class filed out, and Chris slowly walked up to the desk at the front. His footsteps echoed on the floor. He should have been more nervous than he was, as he was about to be scolded by the deputy head. But his mind was totally elsewhere. He was fixated on what he had been seeing from his window. Professor McGonagall was clearly giving him a lecture on his poor punctuality, but the words were going straight through him. He merely nodded every few moments, occasionally agreeing with her. After ten minutes, she allowed him to leave. He marched back over to his desk, grasped his bag firmly, and tossed it over his shoulder. He left the classroom, the door clicking shut behind him, and strode off to his left. Down one flight of stairs, along a corridor, and then up another set of stairs. He strode along a new corridor, before stopping at a sculpture etched into the wall. It was of a beautiful, elegant lady, sat atop a marvellous steed. At the top of the sculpture was the name 'Rowena Ravenclaw, founder of the Ravenclaw house'.

"Evangelic Shikari", Chris said firmly. A moments pause after he said this, the sculpture began to move. Rowena Ravenclaw and her horse strode to the side, and the middle of the stone wall opened, to reveal a staircase. Chris walked through the arch created by the wall's movement, and proceeded up the stairs. Atop of the stairs was a deep, regal blue door, which he opened and walked through.

He had arrived in the Ravenclaw common-room. It was a large, circular room, with two fireplaces, opposite each other, at the edges. The room was lit by light coming in through the five windows that circled the room. In front of each fireplace were three sofas, arranged to make a square next to the wall. Students, male and female, we sat upon these sofas, some chatting idly, some studying, some even lightly asleep, taking a nap after a hard lesson. In the middle of the room, there were two chess boards, with students battling each other at Wizard Chess. Students in Ravenclaw were always encouraged to play chess with a keen interest, to keep their minds sharp. In the gaps in between the windows, were huge bookcases, scaling the entire height of the wall, filled with books, old and new. Ravenclaw had long been known as the house of intellect and knowledge.

After pausing for a brief moment, Chris strode across the room, proceeding up another set of stairs, to his dormitory. As he entered the room, he walked over to his four poster bed, and slumped down on it, putting his rucksack at the foot of his bed. No sooner had his back touched his mattress, had another boy come over to him. The boy was of average height, broad shouldered like Chris, with a stocky figure. He had a slightly large, round head, with a mop of mousey brown hair, and a scraggly beard.

"Alright mate, you're back late from class!" he said.

The boy was Patrick O'Connell, the muggle-born best friend of Chris. They had been friends since before they both went to Hogwarts.

"Yeah…" Chris muttered to Patrick, still in a world of his own. He lay back onto his bed, his head sinking in his pillows, twiddling his thumbs awkwardly. Patrick knew something was up, he'd never seen Chris act like this before.

"What's up mate?" he said, knowing from experience when Chris was troubled.

Chris looked up at Patrick, before looking back down at his thumbs. He didn't know whether to explain things to him or not. Maybe he should just make up some lie, or whether he could trust someone else knowing. Aurora, his other best friend, knew already. Chris thought that even her knowing might be too much. In the end, he chose to keep it to himself.

"Ah, nothing mate. Just got a bollocking from McGonagall." Chris said hastily. This was technically true, although not the source of his discomfort. Chris glanced over at his clock, noticing the time. He quickly jumped up.

"Bugger, it's almost half 5 mate. We best get to Quidditch practise!" Chris said urgently. The two fetched up their stuff, and headed out of the dormitory, down to the Quidditch field.

Both Chris and Patrick were a part of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, that had won the Quidditch Cup two years running. Chris was a chaser, and had set a school record for the most points scored by a chaser in a single season. He was a phenomenal handler of the quaffle, able to sense where a teammate would be before they were there. His passing was exquisite, his positioning extraordinary. He could weave in and out of the opposing team's chasers, slippery like water, as agile and quick as a cheetah.

Patrick served as a beater on the team. His accuracy in hitting bludgers in the direction of opposing players was fearsome. Many teams found it impossible to deal with both the pressure being applied to them by the Ravenclaw chasers, and the relentless bludger assault from O'Connell. This new, high paced style of Quidditch had drawn no answers from the other three houses. The seeker-orientated play style employed by teams in the Harry Potter era simply couldn't keep up with the fast paced, high octane offense of the Ravenclaw team. This style had led to a remarkably unusual statistic. This was that the majority of Ravenclaw games ended with the opposing team catching the snitch, only for the 150 point reward not to be enough to close the gap that the Ravenclaw chasers had opened.

Team practise began at 6pm, and after three hours, their allotted time was up. Chris and Patrick retreated to the changing rooms. As the two changed from their practise kits back into their robes, they idly chatted about the upcoming Quidditch season.

"What do you reckon about this season mate?" Patrick enquired casually.

Chris looked at him, smiled, and then looked back at his kit as he was changed, letting out a small laugh, the classic smirk returning to his face.

"Mate… Nothing has changed. Gryffindor will be stronger with another year under their belts, but Slytherin and Hufflepuff are still just bad. We're the best, everyone else is trash." Chris replied, his voice full of arrogance as well as confidence. Chris seemed to have shaken off the discomfort from earlier, and was back to his confident self.

The boys trudged back to the castle together, and swiftly headed to bed, exhausted after a long training session.

Chris woke up the next morning, a Saturday, earlier than usual. It was 7am, on a weekend he was never usually up for 11am. He rubbed his eyes groggily, his vision hazy, and then stretched his arms out above his head. He looked around, and saw the time. It was a frosty morning, it was late September now, the heat from the Summer before had largely disappeared. Chris slid his legs off of his bed, and glanced at his window. He rubbed the mist off of the glass and stared out of the window, at the same spot at the edge of the Dark Forest. There was no phenomenon this morning. Slightly disappointed, Chris put on his dressing gown and headed for breakfast.

He was early for breakfast, generally only the teachers were up at this time. He had several cups of tea before he was joined at the table by Patrick and Aurora.

"You were up early this morning mate… That's not like you!" queried Patrick, knowing his best friend all too well. He poured himself some cereal, before turning his head to face Chris.

"Yeah, I dunno what happened; I just woke up at seven and was wide awake." Chris replied, nonplussed.

Just as Chris made to have another spoonful of cereal, a letter dropped into his bowl as the owls passed overhead. He looked at his name on the envelope, and immediately knew who it was from. He read through the letter twice, it was from his mother. Chris was a half-blood, his mother a smart but subdued witch, his father a muggle, who worked in computers. Chris's mother had also been in Ravenclaw, and since leaving Hogwarts had forged a successful career in the Ministry of Magic, working in their Department of Education. Chris's mother had two other sons, a decade apart from him. However, neither of Chris's older brothers showed any magical capability, and were never offered places at Hogwarts. This furthered Chris's own ego, and was one of his favourite things to tease his brothers with. Chris was now in his final year at Hogwarts, and by his own admission, the hardest thing for him was being constantly apart from his mother. He had an extremely strong bond with her, and during term time, their contact was limited. Anytime he received a letter from her, it brightened his day.

After leaving the Great Hall once breakfast was finished, Chris and Patrick departed from Aurora and headed straight for the Quidditch Pitch. It was the first game of the season on this Saturday, and they, the defending champions, were playing against Slytherin.

Ravenclaw ran away with a large victory, Chris setting the tone by leading the scoring in the game, before the game was ended when Eldon Sawbridge, the Ravenclaw seeker, caught the Snitch, ending the game. After the game, Chris and Patrick settled into the common room and enjoyed a butterbeer together.

"Get WRECKED!" exclaimed Chris, as he sank comfortably into his armchair, swigging from his beverage, revelling in their victory. Patrick smirked, taking a sip from his own butterbeer.

"You called it man, Slytherin are trash. And your mechanics just get more insane every game bro. I'd love to know how you win those 1v3s!" Patrick said, equally as smugly.

After a few minutes, a group of Ravenclaw girls came in, along with a couple of the others from the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. Chris and Patrick left the common room with the group, and spent the afternoon out in the grounds, relaxing out on the grass.

Chris awoke suddenly, sitting bolt upright. A cold sweat had overtaken him, and he was breathing rapidly, trying to regain his breath. It was almost as if he'd had a nightmare.

'_What is going on?_' he thought to himself. He hadn't had a nightmare, he couldn't even recall dreaming. Something had awoken him, only he didn't know what. He ran his hand through his hair, which was also dripping with sweat. He reached to his bedside table, and grabbed a couple of tissues, with which he wiped his brow clean of the sweat that had accumulated.

"Pull yourself together…" he muttered under his breath. He blinked a couple of times to focus his vision, before looking around. Everything was normal in the dormitory, Patrick was snoring in his bed across the room, which was the only thing breaking the silence.

"3.28am…" Chris said to himself quietly, after checking his clock. He lay his head back down on to the pillow, and shut his eyes. Fifteen minutes later, he was still wide awake. He sat back up, turning his body and putting his legs on the floor. It was a completely normal night, like any other, however, Chris felt like something strange was afoot. Something didn't feel quite right to him. He considered waking Patrick, but instead turned to the window. He moved his curtains back, revealing the glass. He gazed out of the window, _and it was there._ The black, wispy smoke was fluttering around the edge of the forest. Making the connection, Chris realised that this could be what had woken him up, but how, he did not know. This was his opportunity. He threw his robes on, grabbed his wand, and headed out of the dormitory.

Not being a prefect, Chris wasn't really supposed to be out of bed at night. There were usually a couple of people patrolling the corridors at night, but Chris was confident he could sneak around them. He made it all the way down to the entrance hall of the castle, where he was encountered. Altaeus Bagley, a sixth year Hufflepuff, and newly made prefect, approached him. Altaeus knew of Chris's reputation, and was hesitant to approach someone of his stature. He did however, muster the courage to, and went to draw his wand.

"Don't even think about it, scrub." Chris said firmly, drawing his own wand. Chris was well renowned for his skill in using magic. Numerous famous wizards, including Harry Potter himself, had praised Chris, acknowledging him as one of the strongest wizards in the world, despite his youth at eighteen years old. He had even created a couple of spells himself.

Altaeus trembled, but still stood his ground.

"I can't let you out of the castle at this time, Iverson…" stuttered Altaeus, pointing his wand loosely in Chris's direction. The smirk returned to Chris's face, and he chuckled to himself.

"So here's how this goes, kid. You let me out of the castle. I don't hex you, and you don't tell anybody about this little meeting, understand?" Chris said, confidently. His constant, ever-present confidence usually won him his own way. And sure enough, it worked again.

"Okay… But just this once! If I catch you again, I'll be going to McGonagall!" Altaeus said, with a slight whimper. He lowered his wand, and allowed Chris to pass out into the grounds.

Striding out onto the cold grounds, Chris quickly turned to make his way around to the Dark Forest. The dew on the ground wet the bottom of his robes, and the wind chilled Chris to his core. It was bitterly cold, more so than usual for a late September night. His wand still drawn, he trudged through the grass, approaching where he knew the disturbance to be, his heart beating quicker with every step. He got to a corner of the castle walls, the last corner he would turn before getting to the location. He stopped briefly, and realised that he was in fact, terrified. His heart was pounding against his ribcage with such force that he thought it would burst out of his chest. His wand was shaking in his hand, which itself was trembling.

'_Come on… You can do this…_' were the thoughts going through his mind. He took a deep breath, and turned the corner. He strode towards the edge of the forest, and the disturbance came into his vision. He paced towards the wispy smoke, at some speed. He drew closer and closer, his heart still thumping against his chest. His speed increased with every step, until he took a final stride, bringing him right in front of the disturbance. He raised his wand slightly, pointing it at the smoke. After a few seconds, the smoke drifted away from him, into the Dark Forest. Alarmed, Chris rushed after it. He knew that the Dark Forest was forbidden to all students, but he hadn't come all this way for nothing. The black smoke however, didn't lead him far in. After about fifty yards, the smoke stopped, descended, and formed a ghostly figure in front of him, touching down on to the ground. The figure eventually materialised into a person stood before him, a female.

She was reasonably tall, for a female at least, with very thick, curly jet black hair, which shone in the moonlight. Her eyes were tired looking, bags underneath them, and her face was gaunt, skull like. She had long eyelashes and a strong jaw, but it was immediately apparent that she was looking a long way from her best. Still however, Chris was utterly taken aback by her. Even in the horrible state she was in, he was instantly infatuated with her. Her lips were thin and a deep shade of red, almost bloody. It looked as if she'd spent a lot of time biting them. She was wearing a tattered black corset, that clung flatteringly to her skin, long black sleeves that went from the base of her hands and finishing just below her shoulders. From the bottom of her corset, a ripped dress stretched below, to her feet. It was littered with tears and holes, and Chris was able to make out the shape of her legs through the damage, slender and beautiful.

Chris was startled. There was something vaguely familiar about this woman, but he was caught up in her looks. Although she had clearly seen much better days, he was fixated on her. It took a great deal of strength to keep his jaw from dropping. He blinked twice, thinking that he might be seeing things, but no, she was still there, in front of him. Then it hit him. He knew who this lady was. An evil lady, a Death Eater.

"Bellatrix… Lestrange…" he exclaimed. As soon as those words had left his mouth, he realised the potential severity of his situation. He gripped his wand tightly, his arm down by his side.

"It was you, all along. But… You died… At the Battle of Hogwarts, you were killed by Molly Weasley!" Chris blurted out, having read about it in the History of Hogwarts.

Bellatrix hesitated, and drew a breath, looking right back at Chris, a pensive look on her face.

"_Died_… Not quite…" Bellatrix quietly muttered. Her face suddenly contorted into a more serious look, staring at Chris with conviction.

"She ravaged me, I was grievously wounded, but survived, just." She went on to explain.

The two of them looked at each other simultaneously, sizing each other up.

"What are you doing back here? Were you trying to seek me out?" Chris said, still confused.

"None of the others… could see what you have observed over the past few weeks, you see. It takes a wizard of a certain quality to be able to see me in that form… I have been here ever since, barely surviving, but no one until you was able to see me. I couldn't show myself in this body to anyone but a student, as any member of staff or adult would have immediately arrested me, or worse. I waited, and finally, you saw me. As soon as I knew you could see me, I appeared to you periodically, to peek your interest. But you weren't taking the bait… So I had to disturb you, which is why you woke up tonight" Bellatrix explained. She bit her lower lip gently, and stared into Chris's green eyes with her own, cold black eyes.

"Well that's all very well and nice… But now I'm here. You summoned me. But why am I here? What do you want of me?" Chris asked. He tightened his grip on his wand, sensing some danger.

"I'm weak now boy… My powers are at an all time low… I need to restore them… By draining yours from you!" She shrieked at Chris, raising her wand.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Bellatrix screeched, flicking her wand at Chris, a green light firing from the edge.

Chris had less than a split second to respond. But he had sensed danger before, and was alert.

"_Dissapatio!_" Chris incanted, waving his wand, firing a bolt of white light, deflecting Bellatrix's killing curse away from him. Bellatrix was weak, with a fraction of her former power remaining. Because of this, Chris was able to repel the dark magic.

"_Crucio!_" was Bellatrix's next attempt.

Again, Chris dissipated the spell, with the counterspell he had invented himself.

"_Expelliarmus!_"

A flash of red light, and Chris had disarmed Bellatrix, catching her wand.

"Time to cut that out, Bella. It's getting old." Chris said, almost teasingly. Bellatrix stood there in disbelief. It was apparent that she didn't realise both the level of which her powers had weakened, and the ability that Chris possessed. She despaired, before becoming angry.

"How could I be HUMILIATED by just a boy! ME! Bellatrix Lestrange, bested by you! Give me my wand! Let me finish you off!" she spat, her voice overflowing with anger.

Chris strode over to her, confidently, until he was nose to nose with her. She really was in a mess. Being this close to her, Chris noticed how badly she smelled, unable to even guess how long it had been since she had washed. He could see the dirt on her face now he was in such close proximity to her, and long, sharp, black hairs poking out from her armpits. She was a mess. An absolute _mess_. Chris powerfully grabbed the greasy hair on the back of her head, pulling down, forcing her head to look up.

"You're nothing now, pathetic…" Chris said forcefully, even though deep down, he was still utterly infatuated. Even through all of her unkemptness, she was occupying all of his thoughts. But he had to keep in control. He knew she was dangerous, _very dangerous_.

Bellatrix wasn't expecting Chris to manhandle her the way he did. Her thoughts of anger changed, and she gasped, not with pain, despair or even anger, but with ecstasy. _No one_ had ever given her this feeling before. The feeling travelled through her body, she just wanted to touch him. She pressed her body up against his, and let out another gasp, yet more ecstasy, leaving Chris confused.

"What the…" Chris quietly mumbled, before angrily yanking on her hair to remind her who was in charge. As her hair pulled against her scalp, she felt another pang of pleasure. Now on autopilot, she opened her eyes, looked deeply into his, and then forced her head towards his, kissing him deeply, unexpectedly to Chris.

Chris reciprocated for a brief moment, before realising what was going on. Her breath was just short of foul, her tongue pointed, dry and almost sharp, grappling with his. Chris pulled back suddenly, and gave her a confused look. He released her hair, and firmly pushed her, causing her to fall to the ground, onto her back. Chris strode towards her, all kinds of thoughts running through his head. He knelt between her legs and kissed her deeply, ignoring her obvious uncleanliness.

A few hours passed before Chris woke up, lying on his back in the same spot in the forest. He was naked, with Bellatrix, also naked, asleep lying on him, her head on his chest. He was 100% sure what had just happened. But he had no idea why. Or how. Just that it had happened.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a week. A week since their encounter that night. After they had woken up together in the Dark Forest, Chris had made a hasty retreat. A night of passion with someone he found unbearably attractive was one thing. When that person however, was a Death Eater, was something completely different. Numerous thoughts drifted through Chris's mind. He hadn't slept properly since, but he'd managed to keep up his appearances. He wondered if he'd see her again, if he'd ever get the chance to make love to her again. The predominant thought was that, now Bellatrix knew that she couldn't drain any power from Chris, that she would move on to someone else. But, then he remembered that Bellatrix had told him that only he could see her smoke. Curiosity was overwhelming him. He HAD to see her again. But he had no idea how to make it happen.

Chris trudged down the corridor, the time was 6.40pm. He passed through the huge arch doors into the Great Hall, striding over to the Ravenclaw table. He took his usual position next to Patrick.

"You're not looking too great today mate, something up?" was Patrick's first comment.

Chris _didn't_ look great. He'd had a sleepless night, and had powered through the day on the back of several cups of tea alone. He was pale white, and had bags under his eyes. He opened his mouth wide, and yawned deeply.

"Ah… I'm fine mate, just didn't get a great night sleep" he replied lazily.

Chris loaded up his plate with some food, before Patrick, much to Chris's thankfulness, changed the subject.

"What is it you miss the most about living with the muggles?" Patrick asked.

This was the kind of mundane conversation that was ever-present when they were eating together.

"That's easy… It's definitely music. It drives me mad not being able to just lie down and lose the world, listening to my favourite songs. The music we get here in the Wizarding World just isn't the same."

After a few more back and forth comments about music, Aurora slumped into a chair opposite them. She looked a bit flustered, her brilliant pink hair tied into a messy pony tail.

"Ha, you look worse than me, Rory!" Chris said, smirking. "What's up with you then?" he inquired.

Aurora took a deep breath, before letting out an irritated sigh. She looked at Chris, those eyes piercing into his again.

"I need to speak to you, Chris." She said, seeming irked by something.

"Well, speak to me then, it's not like I'm right in front of you or anything…" he replied, in his usual, sarcastic tone. He loved winding her up, and he was pretty good at it by now. But this time, Aurora didn't take the bait, choosing not to fight back.

"In _private_, please" she said quickly and firmly. Aurora had grown accustomed to Chris's 'charm' by now, and such, Chris knew when he needed to take her seriously. He looked at Aurora, then down at his plate of dinner, and then back up at her.

"But but… Dinner!" Chris said, in a jokingly, pathetic way, making puppy dog eyes at her.

"NOW!" hissed Aurora, staring daggers at him. Aurora got this way sometimes when she was flustered, Chris knew she wasn't really mad, but he also knew that he should probably oblige. He looked at Patrick, and then glancing longingly down at his dinner, before pushing his plate to the middle of the table, standing up slowly.

"Come on then…" he said tiresomely, "But this better be worth me leaving my food for!"

Aurora stood up, and they both marched out of the hall. They walked down the corridor leading away from the Great Hall, and both entered an empty classroom. The door clicked shut behind them, and Chris walked around idly, before sitting at the teacher's desk, putting his feet up. Aurora strode up to the desk, staring at Chris.

"Did you have a fun little midnight wander last week, Chris?" she said angrily.

Chris was a little taken aback. He was SURE no one had seen him leave the common room, or wandering the corridors at night. Only Altaeus Bagley had seen him that night, and he promised that he wouldn't say anything. He tried to play it safe.

"Huh? You what?" he said, playing innocent. "I gave up wandering the corridors at night after the… _incident_."

The incident he was referring too happened in his fifth year. After he had helped Ravenclaw win the Quidditch Cup for the first time in over a decade, he and several members of the team had all had a few too many fire-whiskies in the common room. After everyone had gone to bed, his dutch courage had convinced him that it would be a brilliant idea to head to the Slytherin common room to try and seduce a girl he had been lusting after. He always had a bit of a thing for bad girls. Unfortunately for him that night, he had conspired to lock himself out of the Slytherin common room in nothing but his boxers. He then proceeded to draw attention to himself by shouting at the statue outside to let him in. Of course, this attracted some viewers, and he was seen by several members of the Slytherin house. It was front page stuff on the next week's student newspaper.

"Don't play dumb Chris, Altaeus told me he found you the other night, trying to get out of the castle!" she snapped back at him.

'That little… Next time I see him, he'll be sorry!' Chris thought to himself, clenching his fist. He knew that Aurora would pry into Chris's motives that night, and immediately began thinking of cover-ups.

"You saw it again didn't you… Only this time you went looking for it… Because no one would see you!" she continued. "So what was it?" she spat. She had a tendency to just talk _at_ people when she was angry.

"It was quite disappointing, actually…" Chris lied. "I approached it, and whenever I came to close, it knocked me backwards. It kept doing it. Eventually I got bored and came back to the dormitory."

"I-Is that it?" she replied, taking a sigh of relief. She believed his word.

"That's it. Probably just a particularly pissed off apparition…" he said flippantly. His general confidence made people inclined to believe what he said.

"Don't think I'm letting you off for this one Chris…" she said, before breaking into a cute smile, and gesturing towards the door. Chris stood up, and they both left the classroom through the door. He'd got away with that one, his affair with a Death Eater still a secret.

Chris wandered into his dormitory later that evening, after he and Aurora had returned to the Ravenclaw Halls. He walked over to his bed, where he noticed something curious. A letter was on his pillow, in handwriting he had never seen before. He looked over both of his shoulders, and side to side. He was alone, good. He opened the letter, revealing a single piece of parchment, with the words, 'Tonight, 2am, same place' scrawled on it. The hand writing was messy and disjointed, and he knew it was from Bellatrix.

He inhaled sharply, his heart beginning to pound again. He folded the note back up and placed it back into the envelope, casting it into the drawer on his bedside table. He was going to see her again. It was only 8o'clock, and he couldn't wait. He tried several times to occupy himself, but to no avail. He attempted to bury himself in his Arithmancy homework, but to no avail. He tried reading the school paper, and the Daily Prophet, and again failed. Eventually he gave up, and just lay on his bed for hours. Everybody came by him and went to bed. Once he was sure that everyone was asleep, he got out of his bed, and marched into the bathroom. He looked himself in the mirror, and splashed some water over his face. He was excited, yet nervous. He took his robes off, followed by his underwear, and tossed them to the side. He stepped into the shower and mulled things over. As he washed his toned body, she had become the sole target of his thoughts. He stepped out of the shower, and wrapped his towel around himself. He got dressed, and picked up his hoodie before leaving the dormitory, the clock at 1.50am.

He wandered through the corridors, cautiously, making his way to the front entrance to the grounds. He walked down the main staircase to the huge arched doorway, before stopping, and cursing under his breath. Another prefect was here, just his luck. He approached, quickly thinking of an excuse.

"No Bagley tonight?" Chris said to the prefect, trying to give a friendly aura.

"Not tonight, no. He was meant to be, however he fell foul to a rather nasty Stinging Hex, and is with Madam Pomfrey tonight." The prefect replied.

Chris grinned at his response, chuckling to himself.

"Curious…" Chris said, with a snigger. "I wonder who he upset to fall a victim to that?"

Of course it was Chris that had administered this hex. One of the things he had tried to occupy himself with whilst waiting was to seek a small degree of revenge on Altaeus.

"More to the point, Mr Iverson, what are you doing out this late?" the prefect asked.

"Oh, err, well… Don't laugh, it's kinda dumb… I managed to knock my wand out of the window of my dorm… I've come to look for it."

'Was that really the best I could come up with?' Chris thought to himself. No way would the prefect buy that. What a lame excuse.

"But your wand is in your hand, Chris…"

"Oh shi- err I mean, this isn't my wand, I'm borrowing it to help me look… Need a light and that…" Chris said, desperately trying to salvage his excuse.

The prefect looked at Chris, before shrugging his shoulders.

"Sure. I hope you find it. Don't be out too long, Ravenclaw needs you for the big Quidditch match at the weekend!" The prefect turned on his heels and walked off, up the stairs, continuing on his patrol. Chris stood there for a second, amazed that his worst of excuses had worked. Realising that he was probably now late, he rushed out of the castle, and strode quickly across the grounds. He arrived at his destination, only there was no smoke this time. He walked into the forest, to the same spot where they had made love before.

"Bellatrix?" Chris said quietly. A moment after her name had left his lips, she revealed herself. She walked towards him, smiling seductively, dangerously. The danger she posed to him, combined with the looks that he was so infatuated with, drove him wild. He strode to meet her, forcefully gripping her hips with both hands, maintaining constant eye contact with her. He swept her curly, jet black hair away from her face, and kissing her, roughly but passionately. He pulled away from her, and smirked at her mischievously.

"I missed you…" he said to her, grateful to be with her again.

She looked back at him, returning a similar cheeky grin.

"Pfft. The feeling definitely isn't mutual." She responded, teasingly.

"Then why did you invite me back here, huh?" Chris teased back. He tightened his grip on her bony waist, pushing his body against hers. She took a sharp breath, pleasure clearly rushing through her body. She obviously liked being manhandled.

"Still need that somebody to drain power from…" she fired back. This comment was particularly difficult for Chris to decipher in his mind. She could easily be telling the truth there. But he was pretty sure that he'd found another side of her. She tilted her head to the side gently, eying him up. She leaned in to kiss him again, her lips lingering by his. Unfortunately, her lack of hygiene had become a little too much for Chris. She was in a bad way last time they met, but this time, was worse. Her breath was hot and unpleasant, and the smell of her body was wretched. He pulled his head back, and thought deeply for a moment or two. Bellatrix was confused by this, she was sure he would have gone for her at that moment. As Chris was in thought, she went on instinct. She placed her lips to his neck, beginning to harshly suck and bite a little, before withdrawing, leaving a red mark upon his skin. This action almost pushed Chris over the edge.

'My _god_… I can't _not_ have her again…' he thought to himself. He had to risk it, he decided.

"Bella, we need to get you cleaned up. I'm going to put my neck on the line for this…" Chris said, removing his hoodie. He put his hoodie around her slender upper body, zipping it up and putting the hood up, covering her head. It would have to do. He walked her back to the castle entrance, guiding her, her head bowed secretively. He opened the door, and looked inside. The prefect from earlier was gone, so he beckoned Bellatrix inside. He closed the door behind him, and rushed her up the stairs. He knew he couldn't let her wash in his dormitory, that much was a given. Luckily, he had acquired the password to the prefect's bathroom earlier in the year, and knew that it would be empty at this time of night. He led her around the castle, before arriving at the door to said bathroom.

"Pine fresh…" whispered Chris, and the door clicked open. The pair entered the room, but Chris didn't dare turn on any lights. He merely used the 'lumos' incantation to provide a small sliver of light. He ran a bath, complete with bubbles in a vast array of colours, and beckoned Bellatrix to get in. Chris looked away as she undressed, and slinked into the water. Looking from outside of the bath, Chris saw the water change from beautiful and clear, rapidly to a murky black colour. She was filthier than Chris had first thought. Using the contents of a wash-bag that someone had left behind, Bellatrix washed herself thoroughly. She climbed out of the bath quickly, not wanting to stay in the dirty water for long. Chris shone the light from the end of his wand over to her, and was instantly amazed. Now clean, the water shone off of her body, her pale skin glowing unlike the dull tone from before, covered in dirt. Her wet hair dangled down from her head, the curls naturally straightening out due to the weight of the water, covering her breasts. No longer were her armpits hosting ugly black hairs, her legs no longer spikey and rough. Both places looked silky smooth. Chris stared as if he was in a trance. He was head over heels. He had never witnessed anything this beautiful in his life. She was in her natural state, not adorning the black, devilish attire she once wore, her face not covered in black, sinister looking make up. She had utterly taken his breath away. She smirked at him, and walked over to one of the basins. As she walked, Chris couldn't help but glance at her round, supple bum. She turned on the water, and began to brush her teeth with a toothbrush left on the basin.

'Clothes… She'd got no clothes…' Chris thought to himself. He had no answer to this part of the puzzle. He couldn't really leave her on her own, nor could he trawl round the corridors of the castle with a naked Death Eater. He stood there and pondered things in his mind, when before he knew it, Bellatrix was stood in front of him, pressing her wet body against his, snaking her arms around his waist. Chris blushed slightly, something that was very rare to him. He looked down into her dangerous, but sexy eyes. She was giving him the sultriest of looks. He placed one of his fingers under her chin, and tilted her head up, before leaning in and gently kissing her tender lips. His arm slid up her back, his hand tracing up the back of her neck, before running his fingers through her beautiful, thick black locks. He pulled his head back from hers, breaking their kiss, his fingers still gently playing with her hair.

"We have to find you some clothes…" he said matter-of-factly. "But I'm out of ideas on where or how…"

He glanced around the room; there was nothing that anyone had left behind. He gathered up Bellatrix's tattered old clothes and hid them in a spare cupboard. He had no choice but to try and get some clothes from somewhere in the castle. Bellatrix wrapped a pair of towels around herself, and put Chris's hoodie back on. He gently opened the door, cautiously, and extinguished the light at the end of his wand. They stepped out into the corridor, and Chris started walking in the direction of the Ravenclaw common room. It was the only place he could think of. But he knew that if a single person was awake, it was game over. As they approached the common room, Chris was still in thought. Should he take her into the common room? Or have her wait outside whilst he tried to acquire something for her to wear? And what about after? Where was she going to stay? It was a complex situation; one that Chris had trouble addressing. They arrived at the engraving of Rowena Ravenclaw, and Chris gave the password. Before Chris had made up his mind of what to do, Bellatrix shoved her way past Chris and trotted up the stairs. I guess that made his mind up for him. He followed her up the stairs, and hissed her name.

"You _have_ to stay quiet!" he whispered too her. She grinned back at him and tip-toed across the room in a highly eccentric and exaggerated way, mocking him. She found the foot of the stairs to his dormitory, and looked back at him.

"Is this where you live? Up here?" she said quizzically. Chris nodded, but before he could say anything, she again trotted up the stairs without him, her wet feet leaving footprints. He ran over to the stairs after her, following her up. He found her at the top of the stairs, peering through the crack in the door.

"They're all asleep!" she whispered excitedly. She was being a nuisance, whether it was on purpose or not, Chris didn't know. She was almost certainly purely trying to make him uncomfortable and nervous.

"Don't go in there!" Chris whispered back, anxiously. No sooner had those words left his lips, Bellatrix opened the door carefully, and walked in. She spotted the only empty bed, assuming it to be Chris's. Once again, Chris's heart was pounding. He was terrified of getting caught. She was being _so_ reckless. She pranced over to his bed, and jumped on to it, sitting cross legged in the middle of it. To Chris's horror, he heard someone stir in one of the other beds. Thankfully, he heard a little bit of sleep talking, and then they rolled over and went back to sleep. Chris breathed a sigh of relief, but he was still terrified. He walked over to his bed, and sat down on the edge. After a moment, Bellatrix grabbed the back of Chris's collar and forcefully pulled him back. Taken by surprise, he fell backwards and looked up at Bellatrix, slightly stunned. She met his eyes, and licked her lips. She placed her hand on Chris's chest, gripping tightly, almost tearing his shirt. She leant in quickly, and forcefully kissed him, to which he reciprocated. Chris moved himself more onto his bed, and shut the curtains of his four poster bed. He broke her kiss briefly, and conjured a simple charm to stop any noise from escaping the four corners of his bed, before looking back into her brilliant eyes, kissing her passionately. Bellatrix took a dominant position, and mounted him forcefully.

"Time for some fun…" she said playfully, grinning at him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chris was absolutely in the zone. Atop his broom, Ravenclaw held an 80 point lead over Hufflepuff, and he was on fire. Leading scorer for the game, confidence at a high, he received the quaffle yet again from his keeper. He tore down one of the wings, being tailed by one of the Hufflepuff chasers. He nimbly dodged a stray bludger, and saw a second chaser coming towards him from the front. He increased his speed drastically, leaning forwards to make himself more streamlined, hurtling towards the front chaser. He was playing a monumental game of chicken. At the last second, he nose-dived as hard as he could, causing the two Hufflepuff chasers to crash into each other. He pulled up sharply, passing horizontally to his teammate, who lobbed the ball up to him as he continued flying towards the goal posts. He got ahead of the final defender just as the quaffle came down to him, and he punched it forcefully through the middle hoop. The bell sounded, and the commentator was heard shouting, "Another 10 points for Iverson and Ravenclaw!"

The game ended fifteen minutes later as Ravenclaw came into possession of the Golden Snitch. Another blowout. The team was the strongest that it had been since Chris and Patrick had joined, stronger than each of the previous two seasons. The team piled into their dressing room, chanting Ravenclaw songs jovially, even breaking into a round of 'There's only one Chris Iverson!'.

"Three trophies in a row, lads!" Patrick exclaimed, pulling out a crate of muggle beer for them to share around. He tossed a can to Chris, who instantly cracked it open and took a long swig.

"Cheers boys!" Chris called out, taking another drink of his beer.

"I'm not one for long speechs, lads, but I have a few words to say. It's my first season as your Captain, and you've all been a pleasure to play with so far this season. There are four games left to go, Gryffindor twice and then Hufflepuff and Slytherin once each. We're pretty much guaranteed the title again this year, but. No team in history has finished a season undefeated. That's our goal, and would be a great way to go out on top for me, Patrick and the other final years on the team. Well played again team, now let's get to that after-party!" Chris finished his speech, swigging from his beer as him team cheered and clapped joyously. They were all on a massive high.

The clock had just turned 1am, and the majority of the Ravenclaw team were heading to bed, after the post-game party. Chris and Patrick stumbled up the stairs one after the other, pretty drunk. They walked through the door to the dormitory, and both slumped down onto their beds.

"So Chris…" Patrick said, his words slurred. "Cassie Godforth was pretty into you tonight. You weren't interested in her?"

Chris paused for a moment, slightly confused. His alcohol-addled brain taking slightly longer to process information than usual. He hadn't even noticed the girl's advances. His mind was only on one person, all night. Still, Chris thought he should better play along.

"Hmm… She's not really my type, mate." Chris replied tentatively.

"Come on mate, we both know that's rubbish! Anyone is your type after a crate of beer!" Patrick retorted.

This was a little bit awkward for Chris. Patrick knew him very, _very_ well. Should he just be honest with Patrick? Or at least partially?

"Okay mate… To be honest with you, I didn't even notice her. My mind was a bit elsewhere…" Chris said honestly.

"I knew it… You've got your eye on someone, haven't you?" Patrick whispered, trying to keep their conversation private.

"Guilty. But I'm not telling you who, so don't bother asking. I don't want to say anything because I don't know what's going on with us yet, early days." There was a pause, and Patrick didn't respond. Before too long, Chris heard Patrick's all too familiar snore, he'd fallen asleep. Chris lay awake for several hours that night, thinking about his situation. He was worried about how strong his feelings for Bellatrix might become. One of the concerning factors for him was being completely at her mercy. He had no way of contacting her; he simply had to wait for her to get in touch. For all he knew, she could have moved on, he could never hear from her again. This thought was torturous for him. Eventually, he was able to roll over and close his eyes.

Dawn broke, and Chris woke up to a skull-cracking headache. He really had drunk a lot the night before. He rolled over and checked the clock, and to his surprise, it was 1pm. It wasn't that unexpected, as he'd been awake in bed until 4.30am the night before. He rubbed his eyes, before he noticed something curious. There was another note on the pillow next to him, with his name written in Bellatrix's messy handwriting. He grabbed the note, unfolding it hastily.

'Chris, you know how to apparate, right? 5pm, Spinners End, Cokeworth. Bella x'

Chris breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that she was interested in him after all, maybe. He folded the note up, and put it with Bellatrix's other note, in his drawer. It was Sunday, and Chris knew he didn't have any lessons on Monday, so he set about packing an overnight bag. He dragged himself to the bathroom, and got in the shower, hoping to get rid of his hangover. Emerging from the shower, his head felt no better. He walked over to the basin, looking himself in the mirror. He shaved the stubble off of his face, and spiked his hair up with gel. He took a long hard look at himself in the mirror. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, and he was pale. Thinking about it, he felt awful.

"Definitely not drinking that much again…" he muttered to himself, under his breath. He dressed himself, and picked up his bag. He would have to travel to Hogsmeade in order to apparate, as he knew he couldn't apparate inside the grounds. He left the dormitory and walked down the stairs into the common room. He looked over to one of the fireplaces, where Patrick and Aurora were sitting. They both saw him emerge, beckoning him over.

"Where are you off to then?" quizzed Aurora, eyeing the bag on his back.

"Oh, I'm just going to spend today and tomorrow with the parents, it'd be nice to catch up with them." He lied back to them. He didn't like lying to them, but he wasn't prepared to spoil what he had.

"Cool, catch you Monday night then!" she chirped back to him, before turning back to chat with Patrick. Chris strode across the common room and out onto the corridor.

Chris arrived at Hogsmeade, and quickly went into the local pharmacy, buying some aspirin for his headache. He stepped outside, and darted into the alleyway down the side of the building. He steadied himself, and then apparated away.

He landed precisely where he had aimed, at the crossroads turning onto Spinners End. His feet hit the floor, and he took a moment to orientate himself again. He looked around, and there was no sign of Bellatrix. He walked to the corner of the street, and waited. Five minutes passed, but then, he felt someone's arms wrap around his waist from behind him. Her hands snaked around him, and he moved his hands down to hold hers. Her hands were icy cold, he had never noticed before. Turning around to face her, she had donned an attire in the same style to the outfits she used to wear, only she had a hood covering her head. But Chris recognised her mesmerising eyes, beaming out from underneath the hood. He leaned in and gently kissed her once.

"So Bella… Why are we here?" Chris asked curiously. Before answering him, Bellatrix started to walk down Spinners End, beckoning him to follow her. Chris strode after her to catch up, before walking beside her. Bellatrix continued to lead him down the street, still without answering him, before she stopped at a door to an old house. She took out a wand, and tapped the lock 3 times. It clicked open, and she went inside, Chris following her closely. Chris shut the door behind them, and put his bag down on a chair inside the room. It was a rectangular room, with another door leading to the kitchen on the opposite side to the front door. There were two bookcases adorning the walls, along with a pair of sofas in front of a fire place and a television set. They were in a muggle town after all. The windows, however, were boarded up, and looking like they had been for some time. However something caught Chris's attention.

"Bella… Where did you get that wand from? I have your wand right here…" Chris said, pulling her wand out of his pocket, showing it to her. Chris felt very uneasy. He slipped his other hand into his pocket, and gripped the base of his own wand tightly. This was a very easy place to set up a discrete ambush. Bellatrix looked back at Chris, with a look of mischief on her face.

"Oh, this? I um, _acquired_ it…" she said, holding up the wand, holding back a giggle. Chris looked at her in disbelief.

"Are you serious right now, Bella? Tell me you didn't… Kill someone?" Chris said in a hushed tone, his voice trembling slightly at the end. She looked back at him nonchalantly.

"Well, yeah? You took mine, I needed a replacement. Plus, I have some power back now! Foolish muggle born…" Bellatrix replied, her manner and tone of voice suggested that to her, this was no big deal. Chris however, was shocked. He wasn't sure how much power she had regained, but he was much more intimidated. He pulled out his wand, and pointed it at her.

"So now what, you've lured me here to kill me too? Is that what this is?" Chris said, with hints of anger, confusion and disappointment in his voice. Bellatrix strode over to him, causing Chris to grip his wand a little tighter.

"No no no Chris! You have it wrong… Here look, I'll put it away." She exclaimed, slightly flustered. She knew that what she'd done had made him very uncomfortable. But to her, it was just second nature. She had forgotten that he was, at his core, a kind hearted and good person. Killing wasn't in his nature. Chris hesitantly put his wand away, as well. Bellatrix looked him in the eye, and took his hands.

"I invited you here because… I wanted to see you again. My god that sounded disgusting!" she said to him, gently squeezing his slightly shaking hands. Obviously these were new feelings to her, too. And she had definitely never outwardly voiced affection towards anyone before.

"This place is safe, it's secure. We can see each other here whenever we want to see each other." She continued.

"Bella… I'm still more concerned about that fact that you've just committed another murder… A lot could have changed in the eyes of the Ministry in the time that has passed… You could have convinced them, with my help, that you were a changed person. That way you might have been free. But now… If this gets traced to you and you're found… There's nothing that can be done. You can't just go around killing people for gain…" Chris explained, stroking the backs of her hands with his thumbs as she clutched his hands.

"I've seen a side of you that I'm sure no one else has. There's more to you than just a mindless killer. I'd like to get to know that side of you more…"

Chris freed up one of his hands, and placed it on the back of her neck, stroking her beautiful curly hair. Bellatrix paused, and smiled at Chris. She loved the way he played with her hair, at one point it even made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She was willing to try for this man. Someone had finally seen that there was more to her than her exterior, and it made her feel happy, wanted.

"I'd like to help you with that, Chris…" she said quietly. She drew herself closer to him, and rest her head on his chest, to which he responded by placing his arms around her, kissing the top of her head gently. He'd finally made the breakthrough with her, he thought.

"Bella... Does this mean that, you're… My girlfriend?" Chris asked, speaking slowly and hesitantly. Bellatrix looked up at him, and smirked, before looking down again.

"Well… I suppose it does… But I swear… If you give me some unbearable pet name, I will be forced to practise the cruciatus curse…" she said, jokingly. The two broke from their hug, and Chris leaned in to kiss her. They kissed for a couple of minutes, before Bellatrix stopped and spoke to him.

"I'm… going to try and cook for us, I think…" she said, nervously. Chris chuckled, but agreed with a simple nod. She turned around, and walked through to the kitchen. Chris took a seat on one of the sofas, and took a moment to take in everything that had just happened. She was like someone his own age, maybe even someone a little younger. She was well known for being crazy, and it showed. She was like a typical eighteen year old. Sometimes hyperactive and lively, but there was a soft, misunderstood side. But then there was the harsh reality of things. He was in a relationship with a Death Eater. And not just any Death Eater. One of the most renowned killers of all time. Chris would have to be extremely careful, even as his feelings grew for her. Just as Chris finished that thought, he heard a loud bang from the kitchen, followed by a sheepish-looking Bellatrix come back through the door.

"Cooking isn't… and was never my strong point…" she said, her cheeks slightly red. Chris was utterly amazed. She was embarrassed. Bellatrix Lestrange was _embarrassed_ in front of a guy. This was not a trait that a Death Eater would show. Maybe she was human after all. Chris giggled to himself, and found it extremely cute. Her cheeks turned even redder, and she screwed her face up.

"Stop laughing at me!" she pleaded to him. Of course this caused Chris to laugh even more.

"I'm sorry… You're just so cute!" he replied. He knew this would probably push her over the edge, and to no surprise, she turned even more red. She stormed over to him, frowning viciously. She grabbed the front of his shirt with one of her hands, and gave him an evil stare.

"Y-you… Don't talk to me like that!" she snarled at him, curling her free hand into a fist and bashing it into his chest. This only gave Chris more things to laugh at. He overpowered her easily, and wrapped his arms around her, trapping her in a hug. He kissed the top of her head, and Bellatrix finally conceded defeat. She made the sort of face that a spoilt teenager would make when they didn't get their own way. Chris gently kissed the top of her head again, holding her tightly.

"Seeing as you've made a disaster of any food that might be in the house… I think it's time to educate you in muggle food" Chris said hesitantly. He didn't know how she would respond to that. Chris, even though he was half-blooded, had been brought up in a muggle environment. His mother was a witch yes, but they lived in a muggle area of Nottingham where his Dad was brought up. Thus Chris considered himself more of a muggle in that regard. But of course, Bellatrix had, or had in the past, a deep seated hatred for muggles. Heck, she had killed a muggle that same day. He didn't know how she would respond to the suggestion of muggle food. To his surprise, she didn't seem all that bothered.

"Huh, sure. As long as you sort it out though…" she said quietly, in agreement. Chris uncurled his arms from around her, and took a mobile phone from his pocket. Now he was away from Hogwarts, his electronics were back in business. He looked up the number for a local pizza place, and ordered some food. Not wanting to break their cover, he agreed to go and collect it. He hung up the phone, placing it back in his pocket. He looked over to Bellatrix, whose face had finally returned to its normal colour.

"I'm just going to walk and pick up this food, kay?" he said to her, to which she nodded. Chris put his hoodie back on, checked he had his wallet, and then left the house, closing the door on his way out. Bellatrix, now alone, had some time of her own to reflect, as Chris had done for the past few weeks. She walked through the door to the kitchen, and opened a bottle of wine that was stood on the table. She poured herself a large glass, taking a big gulp from it.

'What am I doing…' she thought to herself.

'Sneaking around with a student from Hogwarts, of all places. Is this really what I've become? Lord Voldemort would never, _ever_ forgive me. But Chris is just so… irresistible… And he treats me well, selflessly. Throughout my whole life, not one person has ever treated me nicely. Yet he can still see through the bleak exterior to the real me… He's not judging me on what I've done in my past, only on what he can see for himself. Is this time for me to change?'

She paced the room, taking more gulps from her glass, before returning to the table and refilling it. She was searching for answers, yet she didn't even know the questions. She even began questioning herself, and her hatred for muggle-borns.

'And then there's the issue of him being so friendly with the muggles… I get the feeling that he's been brought up alongside them… He has that phone thing… He can't be a muggle surely; he's too good at magic for that-' just at that moment, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening and shutting. Chris had returned with their food. He placed it onto the table in the sitting room, and Bellatrix walked into the room to join him.

"That didn't take long…" she said, rather curiously, eyeing the pizza box with interest.

"That's why they call it fast food, Bella" Chris replied, smiling slightly. He sat down on the sofa, in front of the table, and beckoned Bellatrix over. She stepped over to him, and sat down next to him. Chris opened the lid of the box, taking a slice of the pizza, which was topped with just pepperoni, keeping it simple for her.

"Try it, it's delicious!" Chris said, taking a large bite out of the slice in his hand. Bellatrix looked at the pizza, slightly untrusting, but eventually picked up a slice. She brought it to her lips and took a small bite, then another. She continued taking small bites, before becoming more comfortable.

"Oh, that _is _good!" she said, continuing to eat. They sat there and finished the pizza between them, chatting idly, Bellatrix sipping from her wine glass, Chris occasionally drinking from a can of beer he had opened. However once they had finished the pizza, Bellatrix asked Chris a question that caught him off guard.

"Chris, are you a m-muggle?" she said quietly, her words trembling. Chris wasn't really for that. This was potentially problematic. But he knew he couldn't lie to her. She took a deep breath, and just went for it.

"No, I'm not… Well, I am a little bit. I'm a half-blood… I did wonder when you'd ask. When I took out my phone, I saw the expression on your face change quickly…" he replied, honestly.

"Oh right… Umm…" came her awkward response. Chris however, wasn't in the mood for petty discrimination. He had to be bold with her.

"This is ridiculous. You hate muggles. I get it. I'm half muggle. So what?" he said strongly.

"You're not… Pure…" Bellatrix replied. It was a tense moment. Chris felt a full range of emotions. He didn't know whether he was angry, disappointed, or sad. Her narrow-mindedness was concerning to him.

"Bella… Let's put it this way. How have I made you feel when we've been together?" he asked calmly. She paused for a moment, before realising where he was inevitably going with this.

"You've made me feel like… No one else ever has. Pretty amazing, to be honest." She answered.

"Well then… What if I'd just told you that I was a muggle? You would have been none the wiser. A muggle would have you made you feel that good. So let me ask you this. What difference does it make whether someone is a muggle or not? Honestly?" he said.

This time, it was Bellatrix's turn to be completely caught off guard. Part of her saw a new side of things. But the other half, just urged her to show her hatred of muggles. She was confused. It surely couldn't be that simple, could it? She stood up slowly, and took another drink of wine.

"I need a moment to think about this…" she said, her voice shaking, her whole body trembling. Chris's own reaction to this took him by surprise. He stood up, and picked up his bag.

"You know what Bella? If you can't accept me because I have muggle blood in me, the fact you even have to stop and think about it… It just disgusts me. And if that's the way it is, then I'm out of here. Forget it." Chris slung his bag over his shoulder, and walked towards the door. He placed his hand on the door handle, and just as he began to open the door, Bellatrix rushed across the room.

"Chris no! You're right…" she stammered, overwhelmed by the situation. He had almost walked out on her over her own ignorance. "You're so totally right… I'm so sorry… Of course I want to be with you, whatever your blood is… Just please don't go…"

Chris paused, and slowly let go of the door handle. He allowed his bag to slide off of his shoulder, to the floor, and he turned around to face her. To his total shock, a single tear had run down her cheek. A wave of emotion rushed across him. He had changed someone. He had brought out a side in someone that not even they themself knew about. She was vulnerable, and this side of her had a strange innocentness to it. Things started to fall into place in Chris's mind. Maybe she only hated muggles so much because that's all she knew. She was brought up that way, her parents hated muggles, so so did she. Her family were all in Slytherin, so so was she. All of her peers followed Lord Voldemort, so, _so did she_. He stepped towards her, and slowly brought his hand to her face, wiping the tear off of her cheek.

"I'm not going anywhere…" he said softly. He held his arm out, at which point she moved closer to him, putting her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. Chris placed one arm around her, and placed his other hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair gently.

Chris awoke the next morning, in an unfamiliar bed. He looked around him, before remembering where he was. Bellatrix was under the sheets next to him, curled up, breathing gently. He lay back and let out a deep sigh of content. He picked up his phone from the bedside table and checked the time. 11.15am. He put the phone back down, and rolled back over, shuffling closer to her. He put his arm over her and gently eased her towards him. She stirred slightly, slowly opening her eyes a fraction. She slowly pushed Chris onto his back, and rolled over, putting her arm over him, resting her head on his chest. She placed her leg over one of his, and held tightly on to him, closing her eyes again.

'This will do…' Chris thought happily.


	4. Chapter 4

Three months had passed. Ever since that moment at Spinners End, Chris and Bellatrix had stayed at the house there every weekend. He would apparate there after lunch on the Saturday, and come back to the castle on the Monday night. It was at the point where Chris even kept some of his things at the house. He was starting to wonder if he was in love with her. Nevertheless, the three months passed, and Chris, Aurora and Patrick were on the Hogwarts Express, heading back to school after the Christmas Holidays. Chris had continued to frequently see Bellatrix over the weeks they had off of school. His trunk loaded onto the train, Chris walked down the carriages of the train, his cat Nidalee in his arms, looking for the compartment where Aurora and Patrick were sitting. Eventually he found them, and sat next to Patrick, closing the door behind him. He placed Nidalee down on the seat next to him, and she curled into a ball, purring gently.

"Alright mate, good Christmas?" Chris said to Patrick, happy to see him again. Patrick looked back at him, smirking.

"So how's this new fancy lady of yours then mate? I presume that's why I barely heard from you all Christmas…" he replied, trying to make Chris feel awkward. Chris however, shrugged the comment off.

"Ha. She's alright…" Chris said idly. "I'm more interested in seeing what you think of the new Quidditch strategies I've been devising over the break…"

"Oh do we really have to spend the whole train ride talking about bloody Quidditch?!" said Aurora, screwing her face up in the progress. Chris looked at Patrick, and as if they'd read each others mind, both said the same thing at the same time.

"Oh, sorry Rory…"

But to Chris's luck, the change in subject seemed to have made Patrick forget about the topic of Chris's new girlfriend. The trio spent the rest of the train journey catching up on the various things they'd gotten up to over the holidays, with the small exception of Chris and Bellatrix's blossoming relationship. Eventually, the train pulled up at Hogsmeade station, and the students made their way to the castle.

The next day, lessons began again. Chris woke up afresh at 8am, in preparation for his first class, Defense Against the Dark Arts, at 9.30am. Chris dragged himself out of bed and into the shower. After he had finished showering, and spiking his hair up in customary fashion, he picked up his bag, and walked down to the common room, where Patrick was waiting for him. Aurora didn't take Defense Against the Dark Arts at NEWT level, so the two left the common room alone. The arrived at the classroom, and strode in, taking their usual seats in the middle of the classroom. Their professor strode into the classroom after them, Professor Stephen Merrythought. He was the son of former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Galatea Merrythought.

He stood at the head of the class, and welcomed the students back from the Christmas break. Defense Against the Dark Arts was Chris's best subject, by a considerable distance.

"Good morning class. Welcome back, welcome back. This morning, a special lecture will be given by none other than the most famous Wizard of our time, Harry Potter!" the professor exclaimed, proudly. In through the door to the classroom came Harry Potter himself, settling at the front of the class.

"Good morning everyone, and thank you for inviting me, Professor Merrythought." Harry said. He scanned the room, glancing over every student. However, when his eyes met Chris's, he stopped suddenly. He had met Chris several times before, praising him on his superb duelling and control of magic. However, this time there was something different. His eyes lingered over Chris for a few more seconds, and he clutched his scar, a slight pain shooting through it.

"Is something wrong, Professor Potter?" Professor Merrythought asked, uncomfortably. Harry broke his eye contact with Chris, and took his hand away from his scar, the pain dissipating.

"No no, I'm fine Stephen, thank you for asking. Just a bit of a headache this morning…" he said hastily, reassuring the Professor. Chris was slightly disconcerted by this, was it just a coincidence that Harry Potter was looking at him when he felt the pain? She shuffled awkwardly in his seat, trying not to make eye contact with Harry again.

Harry continued with the lecture nevertheless, delivering an engaging and informative discussion on nonverbal spells. At the end of the lesson, everyone was packing up their things and filing out. Harry however, walked over to Chris and Patrick's desk.

"Chris Iverson, isn't it? Can I have a quick word in private please…" Harry said to Chris. Chris looked at Patrick, who nodded at him, before leaving.

"Of course Mr Potter…" Chris said tentatively, slightly worried. It was definitely Chris that had caused the pain in Harry's scar, seeing as Harry now wanted to speak to him alone. All of the other students left the classroom, followed by Professor Merrythought, leaving them alone. Chris watched the door close behind them, before turning around to Harry. To Chris's surprise, Harry drew his wand and charged at Chris, grabbing his collar and placing his wand at the side of Chris's head. Harry cast a spell that would reverse the effects of Polyjuice Potion, suspecting that someone was impersonating Chris. When this didn't work, Harry let Chris go, and sheathed his wand.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Chris shouted, in shock. Harry looked back at him, cautiously.

"I'm sorry Chris, I thought someone was impersonating you. It might be nothing, but I sensed something when I first saw you this morning. You're giving off a lot of dark energy, Chris…" Harry explained. Chris looked at Harry as if he was going mad.

"Harry, what? You know me, you know I'm not like that!" he stated, still shocked. Harry paced the room slowly, before stopping in front of Chris again.

"Chris… Is there anything I should know about? Have you been in contact with a dark wizard recently?" Harry asked, sounding concerned.

'Oh, nothing major. I've only been having sex with a Death Eater who also happens to be my girlfriend…' Chris thought to himself. There was no way he could even think about telling Harry that bit of information.

"No Harry, I've just spent all of Christmas at home with my family, you know, my muggle father and non-magic siblings? And my mother who doesn't have a single bad bone in her body." Chris replied. Harry thought that this was oddly defensive, but he knew Chris and his family, and took his word. He had no reason not to believe him.

"Okay… Maybe I just got my wires crossed. You can go now." Harry said, smiling at Chris. "Oh, and don't be too hard on Gryffindor in a fortnight, they're only young as a team…" he joked, referring to Quidditch.

"I'll try to go easy on them!" came Chris's jovial response. He picked up his bag, and left the classroom, rushing to the Great Hall to catch up to Patrick.

Harry however, was still slightly concerned about what had just happened. He pondered for a few more moments, before deciding to do a little more digging. He left the classroom five minutes after Chris, and began walking towards Professor McGonagall's office. He strode there with some urgency, not even stopping to return the greetings of several students who recognised him. He knocked sharply on the door to the office. A voice on the other side of the door invited him to come in.

"Ah Mr Potter! How wonderful to see you again!" Professor McGonagall said to him, beaming. Harry walked up to her desk, and shook her hand.

"Just a quick favour to ask Minerva. I'll pop to the Great Hall for lunch where we can catch up, but for now, I need to know who Chris Iverson hangs around with, you know, his friends." Harry said quickly.

"That's a very specific ask, Harry… What do you need to know this for?" Professor McGonagall replied, curiously.

"I just wanted to ask them something about Chris. There was something different about him when I saw him earlier." Harry informed her.

"Nothing serious, I hope?" the Professor asked.

"I shouldn't think so, just double checking something."

Professor McGonagall looked at Harry, trusting his word.

"Very well, if you head over to the Ancient Runes corridor now, you'll find a girl in the final year class called Aurora Twycross. They're very close." She said.

"Thank you Minerva, I'll make sure I catch up with you at lunch!" Harry said courteously, before turning on his heel and leaving the room. He walked back the way he came along the corridors, before arriving outside the classroom in question. He waited outside for ten minutes, before the bell went. Another minute and the students began to file out.

"Excuse me, is there an Aurora Twycross here?" Harry called out to the group. Aurora, who was chatting to another Ravenclaw girl, looked over to him.

"Uh, I'm Aurora?" she said, perplexed. Harry looked her in the eye and smiled reassuringly.

"Hello Aurora, I'm Harry, Harry Potter. Could I have a quick word?" he said, walking towards her. Aurora was slightly taken aback, but had no reason to decline.

"Umm… Sure?" she replied with a hint of confusion. She said her goodbyes to her friends and followed Harry back into the classroom. She walked over to the desk where she had been sitting and put her bag on the vacant chair. Harry walked over to her, trying not to seem intimidating.

"Aurora I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions about your friend Chris Iverson, if I may?" Harry said politely to her. Aurora paused for a moment, sucking her bottom lip. What could he want with Chris?

"Umm… What would you like to know?" she said timidly. She was a very shy girl, especially around people of Harry's stature. Harry collected his thoughts for a second.

"Has there been anything different about Chris recently?" he asked her. She wasn't really sure what to say to that, they'd just come back from Christmas break, and she hadn't really spoken to him. Thinking about it, that was quite unusual. The three of them normally had quite good contact over school holidays. She twiddled her pink locks in between two of her fingers, and looked blankly back at Harry.

"Umm… Not really… We've just had Christmas break, and the only thing was that he didn't really contact me. I think he found a new girlfriend or something…" she said quietly. Aurora found this quite awkward to talk about, as she had always had lingering feelings for Chris. Harry found this intriguing to say the least.

"Oh really? Is there anything more about that you can fill me in on? Do you know this girl?" Harry asked, interested.

"Oh… No, I've never met her, I don't even know who she is…" she replied timidly.

"Is he normally secretive about his relationships?" Harry quizzed. Aurora paused again, going slightly pink in the cheeks. She felt quite uncomfortable talking about Chris behind his back.

"Normally no… He's normally quite vocal about such things." Aurora began to think of the moments before Christmas where Chris had seen Bellatrix's black smoke from his window. She wondered whether she should tell Harry about this. Conflicted, she kept it to herself.

"Ok Aurora, that's probably enough, thanks for your time." Harry finished, smiling at her. He paused for a second before starting to walk towards the door. Just as Harry was about to leave, Aurora's conscience got the better of her.

"Uh, Mr Potter, wait…" she said. Harry turned around and looked her in the eye.

"Yes, Aurora?" came his reply. Aurora felt very awkward, but she had to tell him. He wouldn't have come to find her if it wasn't important.

"There was something last term… He saw something out of the window of his dorm several times…" she nervously explained. This is what Harry had been after. He stood there for a moment, before walking back over to her.

"Do go on?" he said, deep in thought.

"He said he saw a sort of… black wispy smoke, by the edge of the Dark Forest. It made him late to a few classes, and one night he went out to investigate it. He said that nothing happened, it just repelled him if he came too close…" barely as those words left her lips, she felt awful on the inside. She had probably just created a whole pile of trouble for Chris.

"Did he say anything else about it?" he asked.

"No, just that… He didn't seem very interested in it, I don't think it was a big deal to him. Although he did start going home a lot more often not long after that…" she said. "Look, I'm not comfortable with this, I've told you all I know, umm, I have to go…" and with that, she snatched up her bag and hastily left the room. She got out of the classroom, and shut the door behind her. A tear trickled down her cheek, and she ran back to the Ravenclaw common room. She marched up the stairs to her dormitory, and threw herself onto her bed, drawing the curtains around her four-poster. She burst into a flood of tears, feeling awful about what had just happened.

Harry however, was still in the classroom, thinking.

'Something is clearly not right here… He sees a mystery entity, regularly starts going somewhere at weekends, and possibly uses a girlfriend as a cover story… I have to investigate this further.' He thought to himself. He decided that he'd stay in the castle for the week, and see if anything further developed.

Saturday rolled around, and Chris, Patrick and Aurora were sat in the Great Hall having lunch, as per usual. They had all finished their lunch, and Chris stood up.

"Right guys, I'm off home, I'll catch you guys tomorrow or Monday. See ya!" he said, and strode out of the hall. Harry, who was also having lunch in the Great Hall, saw Chris leave. He decided that he'd follow him and see where he was headed too. Sticking a reasonable distance behind, he walked after him right up until Chris arrived at the Ravenclaw common room. Harry took refuge in a classroom on the same corridor, looking through a crack in the door. Ten minutes later, Chris reappeared from the common room, with his bag over his shoulder. He started briskly walking down the corridor, and Harry resumed following him. Chris made it all the way to the front doors of the castle, along the grounds, and on the trail to Hogsmeade.

'Nothing unusual yet…' Harry thought to himself, continuing to follow Chris at a distance. Harry turned a corner into Hogsmeade, just catching a glimpse of Chris apparating. He knew that Chris had apparated somewhere, but there was no way of telling where. He would have to keep a close eye on the situation in the future, maybe try and track where Chris was going. He was sure he wasn't just going home, as he said he was. No one needed to go home every weekend when they were at Hogwarts.

Chris arrived at Spinners end, looking forwards to seeing Bellatrix again. He strode down the road, arriving at the door to the house they'd been using as cover. He checked around him, making sure no one was looking, and entered the house. Bellatrix was sat on the sofa, watching the television. Chris had never seen her do this before, she was still fairly evasive of muggle technology. He walked over to the sofa, dropping his bag to the floor, sitting down next to her.

"Television Bella? Didn't think that was your thing to be honest!" he expressed, still slightly surprised. She looked back at him, with a disgruntled look on her face.

"How can people watch this? It's total rubbish!" she said disapprovingly. She looked back at the television, before screwing her face up, moving back to look at Chris, who just laughed. He found the way she interacted with muggle technology adorable.

"Ha, you just get used to it eventually… I just end up watching it to pass the time more than anything, I don't actually like what's on it." Chris replied passively. He sat back into the sofa, relaxing. Bellatrix shuffled across to sit closer to him, leaning gently into him. Chris obliged, and placed his arm around her. Chris's thoughts suddenly turned to his incident with Harry Potter earlier in the week. He thought it was probably best to talk to Bellatrix about it.

"So Bella… Something, let's say, intriguing happened this week. I had an encounter with one Harry Potter..." he said slowly, not sure of how she would react to hearing of him again. He immediately felt Bellatrix tense up at the mention of his name.

"By encounter, I hope you mean you practised the killing curse on him!" she said bluntly. Chris could see the anger in her face growing. He'd need to calm her down in order to have a sensible discussion with her.

"No Bella, I'm not interested in who he actually is, only what he wants with me. When he first laid eyes on me, he was discomforted by something. Then he thought that I was someone else, impersonating me. When that turned out to be incorrect, he asked if I'd been in contact with a dark wizard of witch recently… Obviously I told him no, but what the fuck?" he blurted out, with some concern in his voice.

"Could our relationship be, I dunno how to say it, leaving some sort of a trace on me?" he said curiously. He could feel how tense her body still was, the one person she certainly wouldn't want trying to track her down was indeed Harry Potter.

"I don't care, if he steps foot near me then I'll turn him to dust like his precious godfather!" she spat callously. She was never normally this uncontrolled around Chris's calming influence.

"Bella, please. I'm being serious here. If he gets even so much of a glimpse of you… Or if anyone does for that matter… I have a feeling he's going to continue snooping around me. Maybe we should not meet up so often, to see if it makes a difference." Chris suggested. Bellatrix gripped Chris's hand, lacing her fingers with his.

"I won't let myself be dictated to by that filthy half-blood!" Bellatrix spat, clearly incensed. "Why is it always him that has to try and ruin everything!" she stood up, and began to angrily pace the room. Chris quickly jumped to his feet, and walked over to her, putting his hands on either side of her head, looking into her eyes.

"Look at me, Bella. This doesn't necessarily mean anything yet. He's only suspicious of something. He doesn't even know what he's looking for. Trust me, if we keep things safe, it won't be a problem. Then once I'm done at Hogwarts in a few months, that's it. Done. Please, try to calm down a bit, for me?" Chris said to her, trying his very best to reason with her. However, she was difficult to reason with, brushing his hands off of her face.

"I don't care if he doesn't know anything, he's still trailing you and he's still interfering in MY life! Let's kill him. Come on. Let's kill him. Tonight. He'll be at Hogwarts. You can sneak me in. We'll do it together!" Bellatrix was talking quickly, maniacally. She really was irate, dangerously slipping back into her old ways. Chris had one last thing to try.

"Bella, please, let's be rational, calm down my angel…" he said softly. It was a tense moment for Chris. Bellatrix hated any semblance of pet names or corny emotion like that. But right in her core, it gave her butterflies in her stomach. She almost liked it. She would either respond really well or really badly. There would be no in-between. Lucky for Chris, it seemed to have worked. Bella brought herself to within an inch of Chris, and punched his chest.

"Fuck you… You can't call me that, you know you can't…" she said, her voice softening. "I'm just mad… I don't want to have you taken away from me. We've overcome a lot of obstacles these past four months, I don't want to have all that hard work undone."

She placed her head on his chest and put her arms around his waist. Chris reciprocated, and put his arms around her. He gave her a familiar gentle kiss on the top of her head, as he did all so often, stroking her black curls.

"_I love you, Bella_" he said softly, holding her close to him.

"And I love you, Chris" she said back to him, tightening her arms around his waist. This was the first time they'd admitted these feelings to each other. A wave of happiness flushed through Chris. He never wanted to let this lady go.

"Now, let's think about this. Maybe if we see each other every two or three weeks instead of every week. We can still keep in touch with owls. I'll bet you anything that the teachers keep a bit of an eye on me. I'll just have to be diligent. We'll get through this, I only have another few months left there. Let's focus on getting through that first." Chris said.

"Okay. I trust you, but if he continues getting in the way, I will see to him myself…" Bella replied, a hint of anger still in her voice, but she was calm now. Chris caught a brief glimpse of the street outside, noticing that it was now pitch black outside. It had gotten quite late.

"We should probably go to bed, Bella" he said softly. "It's been a pretty stressful day, we'll probably both feel better in the morning, come on."

He gently took Bellatrix's hand and started walking up the stairs to their bedroom. Chris brushed his teeth in the bathroom, before stripping down to his boxers and climbing into bed. Bellatrix soon emerged from the bathroom after him, taking her dress off and tying her hair back. As she moved towards the bed, Chris couldn't help but look up and down her body. Now that she had a place to live, and actual meals, she was more than just the skin and bones she used to be. Chris's eyes followed her slender legs upwards, around the curves of her hips, over her voluptuous breasts and up to her face. Chris smiled gently, utterly in awe of her beauty. Bellatrix shot him that sultry look she was capable of giving, before breaking into a smirk.

"You still can't keep your eyes to yourself, can you?" she said playfully, climbing on top of him. She kissed him passionately, before Chris took charge, rolling them both over so that he was on top of her…


	5. Chapter 5

It was a cold, Wednesday morning in January, and Chris was sat in his bed, having just woken up. It was almost two weeks since he had last seen Bellatrix, that day where he told her about their predicament. Clutching a cup of tea in one hand, he was scribbling a letter to Bellatrix with the other.

'I'm going to see my parents this weekend. I'll keep you updated, I love you x'

Chris had to keep his notes as vague or as simple as possible. He could never put her name in the letters he would send to her, in case they were intercepted somehow. He finished writing the note, and tied it to the leg of the owl he had hired to deliver it. He let the owl go, and it immediately flew out of the window. Chris took a sip of his tea, before looking down to the floor beside his bed. Nidalee was looking back up at him impatiently.

"Come on then you silly cat, the bird has gone now!" he said to her playfully, and he patted his hand on his bed a few times, prompting her to jump up. She walked closer to Chris and he petted her soft head. She was short haired, with a golden shade of fur. She meowed at him loudly before flopping down on her back, demanding attention. Chris rubbed her tummy, taking another sip of his tea. He was deep in thought; he was wondering whether he should tell his mother about his situation. He told her everything, and she was always there to help him. He couldn't imagine life without his mother. But would this be too much? She worked for the Ministry of Magic after all. Moments later, Chris was interrupted from his thoughts by a flustered Aurora.

"Chris! Get your lazy butt out of bed, we have Transfiguration to get to!" she barked at him. Chris looked over to her, only catching the second half of what he said, as he was in a world of his own thought.

"Oh… Sorry Rory, I was miles away…" he replied sheepishly, finishing his tea. He got himself out of bed and put his robes on. Nidalee meowed once at him, looking most displeased that he had stopped paying her attention. She jumped off of his bed and scuttled off.

As the two of them left the common room and began walking down the corridor, Aurora nervously tugged on Chris's sleeve.

"Chris I need to tell you something" she said, her voice full of anxiety.

"Oh? I hate it when you say that, Rory…" he said back to her, somewhat mockingly.

The two continued to walk along the corridor, Aurora biting her lower lip nervously.

"Err, Harry Potter came asking about you last week…" she said quietly.

Chris hesitated. This was exactly what he didn't need to be hearing. But anyway, Aurora didn't know anything, Chris had been very careful to cover all of his tracks. Surely there was nothing she could have said to Harry?

"Eh? Sure… And what did he want?" Chris replied, trying to seem non-fussed about things.

"He wanted to know if I'd noticed anything strange about you recently…" she told him, nerves jangling.

"I didn't tell him anything… I just thought it was weird…" she quietly retorted.

"Come on Rory, I know you better than that. You've obviously told him something; otherwise you wouldn't be feeling guilty. I can tell when you're feeling like that because of that lip biting thing you do" Chris rebutted.

Aurora stopped walking for a second, petrified. It was scary what Chris could work out just from her body language. She began walking again, and decided to be honest with him.

"I told him that… You might have a new girlfriend… And I… I-I told him about the thing you kept seeing outside of your w-window…" she stammered.

This time it was Chris that stopped walking. His pupils narrowed, and his felt a chill fly down his spine. A thousand thoughts flew through his head at once. He managed to get a hold of himself however, and realised that making a fuss about it wouldn't solve anything.

"It doesn't matter Rory, it was nothing anyway. I stopped seeing it ages ago." He said gently, trying to defuse the tension. This turn of events was certainly a spanner in the works. Chris needed to devise a plan to get Harry Potter potentially off of his case. It didn't take him long to think of something.

"Hey Rory, d'you fancy a break this weekend? You could come back to mine when I go to see the folks this weekend. It'd be cool to have you come along, I think my mum misses you" he said, grinning. This was a pretty good plan, he thought. Aurora would make the perfect alibi. If Harry asked anything, then she'd be able to back him up.

"That sounds cool actually, it'd be nice to get out of here for a bit!" she said appreciatively, relaxing finally.

Later that day, Chris arrived back in his dormitory. On his pillow, there was a note waiting for him.

'Fine. But I have to see you soon. I'm a lady with certain _needs_' was all the note said. She always knew how to make it very difficult for Chris to be away from her. He folded up the note, and placed it in the usual drawer. He closed the drawer slowly, keeping his hand lingering there for a second, before he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, and a he was greeted by a boy he'd never seen before. He was tall, but unlike Chris, he was wiry, skinny. He had slick black hair, and deep green eyes like Chris had never seen before. He was slightly olive-skinned, with a strong jaw that was lightly covered by stubble.

"Uhh, do I know you?" Chris said, rather unapproachably. Unfortunately, Chris gave off an arrogant, self-centred aura towards people he didn't know. His popularity was at such a level that it had very much gone to his head. The unidentified boy looked at Chris, seemingly unperturbed by his attitude.

"Well, you don't know me, no. But you will do soon. I've just transferred here from Durmstrang, and Flitwick told me that you were to help me settle in." the boy said, in a soft, eastern European accent. He smirked at Chris, similarly to the mischievous grin Chris was so known for.

"Ha. I don't think so. Run back to Flitwick and tell him he's made a mistake. I'm not showing you shit." Chris said coldly. He made to barge past the boy and leave the dormitory, but the boy put his hand firmly on Chris's chest, stopping him in his tracks.

"No. Not so fast. I hear you're a bit of a big shot here. But I'll tell you something, you won't push me around like the rest of them." He said firmly, pushing Chris back. "My name is Atesh, I advise you learn it."

Chris was taken aback. No one had ever dared speak to him like that. Especially not someone new. After a moment of shock, his face broke into a grin. He realised that this guy could be a strong ally, someone who would fit right in with Chris and Patrick.

"You know what, kid, I like you. You've got some fire. Sure, I'll show you around" Chris said, changing his tone to a more accommodating one. He held out his hand to Atesh, who obliged and shock Chris's hand.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to some people." He said, beckoning Atesh to follow him. He led him down the stairs to the common room, looking out for Patrick, Aurora, or both. He spotted Patrick on one of the sofas by the fireplace, his head buried in an Ancient Runes textbook.

"Yo, Paddy!" Chris called out to him, to no response. Patrick was concentrating hard on his textbook. Chris walked over to him, and slapped the back of his head. Patrick jumped, dropping his book, before looking behind him, seeing Chris.

"Oh shi- oh, hey man, what's up?" Patrick said, picking his book from the floor. Chris sat down next to him, with Atesh taking a seat on the adjacent sofa.

"Paddy meet Atesh, he's new. Just transferred from Durmstang." Chris said, enlightening Patrick. Patrick looked over at Atesh, giving him an acknowledging nod.

"Alright mate, I'm Patrick, you can call me Paddy." He responded, before opening his book again.

"So, how come you've just transferred?" Chris enquired curiously. It might have seemed a bit strange to some, a student randomly transferring, and Chris of all people being chosen to help him settle in. But Chris had put it down to the fact that, in his own mind at least, he was one of the most popular students at the school, therefore a natural and obvious choice.

"Oh, my Father was working for the Ministry of Magic in Sweden, but he since was transferred to work in the Ministry here. So I kind of, ended up at Hogwarts." Atesh explained.

"Oh, that's pretty cool. Did you like it over in Sweden and at Durmstrang?" Chris asked, genuinely curious.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool. Although Durmstrang was very different from here. It was super strict, it was almost like a military academy." Atesh replied. He leant back into the sofa, becoming more relaxed now he had found people to talk to.

"Say, are you any good at Quidditch? We're always looking for people to help strengthen the team." Chris asked, knowing that the continent had produced many outstanding Quidditch talents. Atesh looked at Chris, and grinned.

"I was hoping you'd ask that, Chris. I played as a seeker for a local team back in Sweden, and played in Durmstrang's inter-house competition for my house." Atesh retorted. Chris's ears pricked up. Seeker was the one weak link on the Ravenclaw team, if there was one.

"Well, I happen to be the Captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team…" Chris boasted, arrogantly. "How about you come for a tryout this week? We practise on Thursdays, so tomorrow. Six o'clock, I'll meet you here at half five though?" Atesh smiled back at Chris.

"You got it. I'll show you what I'm made of!" he said.

Shortly after, Chris turned his attention back to Patrick, who was still buried in his textbook.

"What the fuck has fascinated you so much Paddy?" Chris said obnoxiously. Patrick looked up from his book, and sighed loudly.

"I forgot about this bloody translation I have due for tomorrow, and I can't find these runes anywhere." He said with despair.

"Pfft, shouldn't have picked a shit subject then, eh?" Chris said lackadaisically, putting his feet up on the coffee table. Patrick scowled at Chris, before carrying on flicking through the book. It was at this point that Aurora walked into the common room, seeing the three of them sitting together. She walked over to them, and sat next to Chris.

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiii guys" she said to Patrick and Chris, in her usual airy tone, failing to notice Atesh sitting with them. Chris looked her, and then at Atesh.

"Oh, don't bother to introduce yourself then, Rory!" Chris said sarcastically. Aurora simply frowned at him.

"Sarcasm is the _lowest_ form of wit, Chris…" she said disapprovingly, before taking note of what he actually said. He quickly looked around her, before her eyes fell on Atesh.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm Aurora Twycross!" she said, beaming.

"You can call me Atesh" he replied warmly.

The three of them sat there for another few hours, chatting idly, getting to know Atesh better. By the time the clock struck 11pm, they decided they'd better call it a night, having class at 9am the next day. Aurora scuttled off to her dormitory, whilst Chris, Patrick and Atesh walked up the staircase to the boys dormitory.

Thursday afternoon rolled around, and the boys were at Quidditch practise. Chris was really putting Atesh through his paces, and Atesh wasn't disappointing. His broom control was above average, but the standout attribute was his awareness. He could see the snitch from the most obscure, awkward angles. They ran two 7v7 practise games, and Atesh thoroughly outclassed their existing seeker. Chris glanced over at Patrick after another impressive pick up from Atesh, and nodded, impressed. He flew over and hovered next to Patrick.

"Mate… We're going to be unstoppable. Literally unstoppable." Patrick said to Chris, full of confidence. Chris blew the whistle hanging around his neck, and signalled all of the players to land and gather at the centre of the pitch.

"Atesh, you'll be starting next Wednesday against Slytherin. This unbeaten season just took another step towards reality. Good session guys, dismissed!" he announced, before the team broke away and moved to the changing rooms.

Meanwhile, whilst the boys were away at Quidditch, Aurora was sat by herself in her dormitory. She was very fond of Patrick and Chris, but really did appreciate her alone time. She was on the chair by her bed, reading a novel in the fading sunlight next to the window. She was a witch of pure blood, her parents owned a shop on Diagon Alley, dealing in various supplies related to Divination. Her long pink hair sparkling as the light hit it. She marked the page in her book, and gently closed it, placing it on her bed. She stood up, picked up her jacket, and wandered down to the common room, and then out to the corridor. She navigated all the way to the castle entrance, trotting down on to the grounds. Every so often she would walk around the grounds, allowing herself to immerse herself in her thoughts. She liked the soft singing of the birds in the early evening, and she walked along one of the many paths, listening to each note. After ten minutes, she sat down on the slightly moist grass and lay back, looking up at the slowly darkening sky. The stars were just coming out, and the sky was beautifully clear. She lay there for what seemed an eternity, tracing the various constellations with her wand. She had just finished admiring the constellation Aquarius, when she noticed someone slump down next to her.

"Whatcha doing down here Rory? I saw you from my window" came Chris's voice. He lay down, looking up at the stars with her.

"Oh, hey Chris. I'm not doing anything of note, this is just where I come to get some peace and quiet sometimes" she replied, almost vacantly.

"We've known each other all this time, and I'm still finding things out about you…" Chris said softly. "What were you thinking about?"

Aurora exhaled contently, taking her thoughts in for another moment.

"Oh, I was just thinking about how we've just met Atesh… It made me think about the day we became friends. I was reflecting" she said gently.

Aurora had always been a bit of an enigmatic character. In their second year, Chris and Patrick never really had any business with her. She suffered from anxiety, and thus she kept herself to herself, and had a bit of a dislike for the two boys, particularly Chris. She found his ego to be unpleasant at best. At the end of their second year, in late May when the weather was heating up, several of the students were spending their free time down by the lake, in their various social groups. Aurora was sat by herself overlooking the lake, when a group of boisterous pupils accidentally knocked her into the lake. She was by a particularly deep part of the lake, and she couldn't swim. Many pupils froze, not knowing how to react to the situation, but Chris immediately jumped to his feet, and dove into the water after her. It was hard work, even in the summer the water was freezing, but Chris managed to find Aurora under the surface and bring her back to shore. He carried her in his arms to the Hospital Wing, where she was taken care of by Madam Pomfrey. Despite Chris being a strong swimmer, he himself caught a nasty virus from something in the lake, and spent the next week and a half in the Hospital Wing himself. Aurora went to visit him, to thank him for all he had done, selflessly. She asked him why he had dived in to save her, having never so much as acknowledged her before. Chris merely stated that he was doing what any human being should have done, and that he was shocked that no one else attempted to help her. She went back to visit him a few more times until he was released. The first thing that Chris did upon being released was going to find Aurora. He thanked her for coming to visit him whilst he was sick, and asked her if she'd like to accompany him to class. He'd noticed that she didn't seem to have a dependable friend, and wanted to speak to her sooner, only he too was quite shy and battled anxiety. Aurora saw a new side to Chris, one that everyone else didn't see. Their friendship blossomed from there, and they helped each other with their anxiety problems throughout the years they spent together. Aurora was able to put up with, and see past Chris's brash exterior, because she knew that underneath it all was a genuine person.

"There was more to me than meets the eye, wasn't there" Chris said, smiling contently.

"Of course… There's more to most people… But you were always a jerk, Chris, there's no denying that one!" she replied teasingly. Chris laughed and looked at Aurora.

"You're a good friend Rory, I'm glad we started talking" Chris said with a smile.

"Thank you…" she replied with a smile of her own. "But it's getting late, we should get back to the castle"

The two of them stood up, and began walking back up to the castle.

Saturday rolled around, and Chris was preparing his things for his and Aurora's trip to visit Chris's home. He had finished packing his bag, and had it ready on his bed. He was just waiting for Aurora to come and knock for him. After two weeks, Chris was really missing Bellatrix. He took out her notes from his drawer, and read through them all again, longing to see her. He'd send her an owl when he got home, he thought to himself. His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door, and Aurora's voice calling his name. He placed the letters back in his draw, grabbed his bag, and met Aurora in the common room. The two of them walked from the castle, down the path to Hogsmeade, apparating from the Hogs Head Inn. They arrived on the road outside Chris's house, deep in muggle suburbia. It was a detached house, with a small front garden. The house itself was average in size, with a porch by the front door, a garage and a drive, complete with a car parked on it. The two of them walked up the drive to the front door, and Chris rang the doorbell. The front door opened, and there stood Chris's father. He was just about six feet in height, with thin grey hair surrounding a mainly bald scalp. He was slightly portly, but more stocky than fat. He had the build of an ex rugby player.

"Alright son! Hello there Rory!" he greeted warmly, standing aside from the door allowing them to come in. Aurora had been to Chris's house several times before; both herself and Patrick regularly came to stay with him over holiday periods. They stepped inside, entering a front hall with a study going off to the left, and stairs going up to another floor in front of them. They took their shoes off, leaving them by the front door, and proceeded up the stairs. They walked along a small corridor and passed through a door, into the kitchen. Chris's mother was in there, just making some cups of tea. Chris made eye contact with his mum and smiled broadly. They didn't say anything to each other, merely smiling as Chris went over and gave her a loving hug. She was small in stature, with long, almost black hair, and blue eyes that looked through rectangular, thin framed glasses.

"Hi Aurora, nice to see you again." Mrs Iverson said. "By the way Chris, your Aunt and Uncle are coming to visit later, so we'll probably go out for dinner. Your Uncle Steve is retiring from his job as an Auror, remember to wish him well"

That night, after they had come back from their meal, most people had gone to bed. Chris was alone, making cups of tea for himself and Aurora before going to bed himself. He walked to the fridge to grab some milk, when his Uncle entered the kitchen. Chris saw this as an opportunity to do some research.

"Hey Steve, can I ask you something? It's to do with Dark Wizards and Witches for my Defense Against the Dark Arts coursework, I figured you might be able to help me." Chris asked innocently.

"Sure thing, I'll do my best to help you out" Steve replied casually. Chris took a brief moment, working out how best to approach the situation.

"In theory, if one person was to spend a certain amount of time in the presence of a dark witch of wizard, could that possibly leave some sort of trace on them? A transfer or lingering of dark magic, perhaps?" Chris queried. Steve thought for a moment, before answering.

"So, any witch or wizard who would selflessly harm, torture or kill innocent others, has to invoke and control a certain amount of dark magic. The more dark magic they use, they eventually scar themselves with dark magic. The dark magic will linger around them forever afterwards, and it is possible for some of that latch on to others, albeit it only temporarily." Steve explained.

Chris pondered, and it was as if a light bulb had been switched on in his head. This was most certainly what Harry Potter had sensed on Chris in the lecture a few weeks ago. Now, just how to deal with it.

"Sure… So would there be a way to counteract, or cover these tracks up?" Chris asked curiously.

"Of course, for those who merely have prolonged exposure to this dark magic, but don't actually harness it themselves, there is a simple charm one can use to rid yourself of this energy. It is beneficial to do so for any witch or wizard, as dark magic can have a negative effect if it allowed to build up over extended periods of time." Steve told Chris.

"And what is this charm? Would you be able to show me? It'd be really useful for this project, I really want to get an 'outstanding' in my NEWT" Chris said enthusiastically.

"Of course. It's called the 'Divine Light Charm', and it's performed like this" Steve said, taking out his wand, taking a step back from Chris. He cleared his throat, and flicked his wand, before placing the tip on his chest.

"Divina Luxio!" he said clearly. His wand glowed a beautiful white, and a stream of light rushed around his body, seemingly cleansing him. Chris took out his own wand, and performed the same hand action that his uncle had.

"Divina Luxio!" Chris incanted. The spell had the same effect on Chris, and he felt a warm, gentle embrace from the charm. This was a huge discovery for Chris. If this worked, then he would never have to worry about his problem with Harry Potter again. Now he just had to wait and see what would happen when he returned to school.

"Thanks Steve, that's a great help. I've gotta head to bed, I'll catch you in the morning" Chris said thankfully, picking up the two mugs of tea and heading to his room. He walked out of the kitchen and up two flights of stairs, arriving on the top floor of his house. There were three doors, one on the left, one to the right, and one in the centre. He walked through the left door, into his bedroom. It was slightly rectangular in shape, with a double bed against the near wall, and a bedside table each side. Opposite the bed was a small desk with a television on it, making it easy to watch from his bed. He walked over to his bed, which he would be sharing with Aurora tonight, as his Aunt and Uncle were in the guest room. Aurora was already in bed, and Chris handed her a cup of tea, before climbing into bed himself.

"Tonight was nice, thanks for inviting me Chris. I needed a weekend away from the castle, it gets a bit too familiar sometimes." She said appreciatively. Chris smiled and took a sip of tea.

"Don't worry about it Rory, you're always welcome, you know this." Chris said reassuringly. The two of them finished their tea, and Chris took both of their mugs back to the kitchen. On his way back up, he brushed his teeth, before staring at himself in the mirror. He looked into his own eyes, with a new sense of confidence about his situation. He felt like he could have turned a corner, solving a puzzle in how to keep his and Bellatrix's relationship safe. He smiled and let out a small, hushed laugh, before leaving the bathroom and climbing into his bed. He extinguished the light with his wand, and rolled over, going to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

The new week was already half way through, and it was apparent that Atesh was acclimatising very well to his new home. He had built up quite a camaraderie with Chris and Patrick. They had bonded over Quidditch, and Wednesday evening, in Atesh's first Quidditch match at Hogwarts, Ravenclaw had run out winners over Slytherin by a large margin. Atesh had secured the snitch without the Slytherin seeker even realising. His eye was incredible. The victory has secured Ravenclaw the Quidditch Cup, and their undefeated season was still alive, now with just three games to go. The three boys spent the rest of the evening in the Ravenclaw common room, laughing and joking about Quidditch, girls, music, amongst other things. They had some music playing out of the radio, one of the stations that played a variety of muggle music. The clock struck 8pm however, and a curious song came on the radio. It caught Chris's particular attention. The song was titled 'Miss Murder', and of course it only directed Chris's thoughts into one place. He hadn't seen her in almost three weeks, but now he had what he thought was the answer, he could freely go and see her. In a spur of the moment decision, he decided that he would go and see her, right then. He just needed an excuse to be away for the night. He got up, telling the other two that he was going to the toilet. He walked up the stairs to his dormitory, and grabbed a piece of parchment, scribbling something on it. He folded it up, and walked around to where the first years slept. There was a group of them sitting together, talking amongst themselves. Chris strode over to them, pointing at the most timid looking one.

"You, want to make a quick galleon?" Chris said bluntly. The boy looked back at Chris, clearly intimidated.

"Yeah, what's the catch…" the boy replied timidly. Chris smirked at the boy, thrusting the note at him.

"Take this, and walk out of the common room. Be discreet about it. Then five minutes later, walk back into the common room, and give me the note. Understand?" Chris directed, offering a galleon to the boy. The boy took both the galleon and the note, giving Chris a nod.

"Good boy. I'll remember this" Chris said approvingly. Chris turned around and walked back to the stairs leading to the common room. He re-joined Patrick and Atesh, continuing their idle chit-chat. Out of the corner of his eye, Chris noticed the boy leaving the common room. Not drawing any attention to him, Chris carried on talking with his friends. Right on queue, the boy came back and tapped Chris on the shoulder, thrusting the note at him.

"Professor Flitwick asked me to give you this." The boy said quietly, before turning on his heel and walking off, without Chris even acknowledging him. Chris opened the note, and pretended to read it. He faked a shocked facial expression.

"Shit, my brother has had an accident. I've gotta go visit him in the Hospital apparently..." Chris said quietly. He folded the note up and put it into the pocket on his robes.

"Oh mate, is he alright?" Patrick said, concerned. Chris looked at him, and nodded.

"Yeah, he'll be alright, he just came off his motorbike. He's in hospital though, my mum wants me to go and see him with the family. I'll be back tomorrow lunchtime roughly I think." Chris explained. He got to his feet, and began to walk to the dormitory stairs.

"Catch you tomorrow guys, well played today" he said, before disappearing up the stairs. He walked over to his bed, and muttered 'suckers…' under his breath, before picking up his bag, stuffing a spare pair of clothes into it. He followed his usual routine, out of the common room, down to the front of the castle. He walked along the familiar path to Hogsmeade, apparating almost instantly when he got there, as no one was around. He arrived on the same spot of Spinners End as he always did, and strode down the street hastily, he was looking forwards to seeing her more than he could describe. The three weeks had seemed like a year. He arrived at the door, putting his key in the lock, and quietly opening the door. He slid inside, seeing the television on, but Bellatrix wasn't in the room. He shut the door, dropping his bag, before Bellatrix walked back into the room, having not heard him come in. She saw him immediately, surprised that he had turned up without notice. Chris was in no mood to hang around, and walked over to her, taking her into his arms, kissing her passionately. She was caught off guard, but she loved his spontaneity. She slid her arms around his back, her tongue gently wrestling with his as they entered their loving embrace. His hands slowly lowered, following her spine downwards, resting them on her round bum. He squeezed firmly, causing her to gasp for breath, breaking their kiss momentarily.

"Looks like you missed me…" she said pleasurably, under her breath, whilst she moved her hands up the back of Chris's top, feeling his bare back. She stopped her hands at the back of his shoulders, pulling him back in closely. She kissed him again, before finishing with a lingering bite on his bottom lip, drawing a little bit of blood. Pleasure rushed through Chris's body, this time it was his turn to gasp in amazement. He took his hands from her bum, placing one hand on her chest, before pushing her back forcefully into the wall, following her, her hands still up his back. She looked at him half aroused and half sadistically. As she hit the wall, she drew him back towards her, kissing him roughly, digging her nails into his back as she gripped him tightly, before dragging her hands down his back, breaking the skin. She took her hands out from underneath his shirt, her fingernails stained red with his blood, and found his hands. Chris took her hands forcefully, and placed them above her head, pinning them against the wall, holding her at his mercy. He drew his head back, and looked at her, wantingly. She looked back at him, biting her lower lip in anticipation.

"So you've pinned me down… Now what are you going to do with me, huh?" she said, her words effortlessly seductive, each syllable oozing with sexuality. Chris took one hand off of Bellatrix's, reaching for his wand. In this moment, Bellatrix freed her other hand, ripping Chris's slightly blood-stained shirt from his body, revealing his muscular torso. Chris found his wand from his pocket, and used a non-verbal spell to cut straight down the middle of her dress, allowing the entire thing to fall to the flaw. Chris threw his wand aside and admired her half naked form. She was wearing a typically black, lace bra, barely containing her bountiful chest, and an equally provocative pair of matching black lace French underwear. Chris's eyes widened as he saw all that was containing her most sensitive of areas. Bellatrix merely grinned, vixen-like, back at him, before pushing him backwards onto the sofa behind them. This time it was Bellatrix's turn to be in control. She walked over to him, before mounting him and pinning his own hands above his head.

"I think it's time that I showed you all that a dark witch is capable of…" she whispered into his ear, releasing his hands, placing her palms onto his bare chest. She kissed his neck, slowly moving down over his chest, proceeding further downwards over his athletic body. The acts that they proceeded to take part in with each other could barely be called 'love making'. It was a much rougher, more violent and coarse version, which couldn't be given an appropriate name. At the conclusion, neither of them could catch their breath. Chris was on top of her, looking down into her eyes, drops of sweat trickling down his face. He leaned in and kissed her, this time tenderly, lovingly. He raised his hand to her face, and stroked her cheek gently, before running the same hand through her black curls. He was wildly in love with her, which was obvious in the way he looked at her.

"Home could be anywhere when I am holding you…" Chris said softly. Bellatrix, however, found the statement almost vomit-inducing.

"Shut up… You soppy half-blood…" she said to him playfully. Chris got up off of her, the moonlight shone in through gaps where the windows were boarded, reflecting off of the sweat on his naked body. He walked out of the room, up the stairs to the shower. Bellatrix raised herself to her feet, and followed him up the stairs. She walked into the bathroom, just as Chris was stepping into the shower. She joined him in there, admiring the scratch marks she had made in his back. As they showered, Chris was still in awe. They had never had sex so… violent, before. As the hot water from the shower hit his back, flowing over the numerous cuts, he felt twangs of pain. But it was worth it. Chris got out of the shower as Bellatrix began to wash her hair. He wrapped a towel around himself, before moving into their bedroom, drying himself off and climbing into bed. He lay back, his back again stinging as it came into contact with the bed sheets. Fifteen minutes late, Bellatrix entered the room. She picked up her wand, using it to almost instantly dry her hair, and returning it to its bouncy curls. She got into bed next to him, and laughed to herself.

"That was definitely a new way of saying hello to me, Chris" she said playfully.

"Sorry about your back, as well…" she said, without any hint of remorse. Chris gave her a wry smile.

"No, you're not…" he replied light-heartedly. She looked at him with a more serious look on her face.

"So. Why have you showed up unexpectedly?" she asked, curiously.

"Just needed to get off, I know you're a sure thing…" Chris quipped, mischievously. Bellatrix glared at him, giving him the sort of look that could kill a man.

"I think I've made progress with the whole Harry Potter thing." Chris said, Bellatrix looking at him keenly.

"I spoke to my uncle, an ex auror. He showed me a charm that could be used to cleanse oneself of any dark magic they have lingering around them. It might just remove whatever it was about myself that Potter was sensing." Chris explained. Bellatrix's eyes widened, her expression turning slightly sour at the mention of Harry Potter's name.

"I told you the solution last time you were here. It's called the killing curse." She spat, callously. Chris refused to be drawn into her idea, however.

"We're not going to kill the man, Bella. All we need is him off of our tracks. And I think I've found the way to do it. The Divine Light Charm, I think it's what I've been looking for. I'll only know once I get back to Hogwarts after seeing you." Chris went on. Bellatrix looked at Chris, her eyes looking up and down his body, biting her lower lip. She rolled over and mounted him one more time, bearing down over him, kissing him.

"Better have all the fun we can whilst you're still here then…" she spoke into his ear, before beginning to kiss down his neck once more…

Back at Hogwarts the morning after, Aurora was sat in a potions class listening to Professor Slughorn teach them some theory. She was the only one of the group to take NEWT level potions, so she despaired at the thought of Chris, Patrick and Atesh still being in bed. Patrick and Atesh however, were just getting out of bed. There was still no sign of Chris, who had said he'd be back by now. The three of them had Charms together second period. They decided they had better go without him, and made their way out of the common room. The bell rang for the end of first period, and Aurora packed up her things, leaving the classroom. The boys normally met her outside of the dungeons before the boys went to Charms and Aurora went to Divination. Patrick and Atesh walked over to Aurora, who was chatting with a girl from her potions class. The first thing noticeable was her long, sweeping brown hair, which almost glowed where the sunlight reflected off of it. She had round, green eyes, which were soft and gentle, unlike Aurora's icy stare or Bellatrix's evil gaze. As the pair chatted away outside their class, she had a sweet, bubbly giggle whenever the conversation took a more humorous tone. Her grin quickly turned to a frown however, when her eyes met with Patrick.

"Hey Paddy!" Aurora said, grinning. The other girl simply refused to make eye contact with him.

"Morning Rory, Cathy…" he replied, quietly.

"Hi" said the girl, Cathy, bluntly. There was a past between these two, which had occurred in their fourth year. The school was holding its bi-decadal dance, and Patrick had asked Cathy to go with him. Patricks motives however, weren't to be with Cathy, only to try and get closer to a girl in her house, Hufflepuff, called Isabella Hywater, a very popular cheerleader. To Chris, this was all highly amusing, and found it hysterical to tease Patrick about it, all night. Eventually, once Isabella had turned down Patrick's advances, the two of them thought they would resurrect their night by sneaking several puking pastilles into Cathy's food that evening. As one might imagine, Cathy was not amused when she found out who was behind this, and also Patrick's true motives for taking her to the dance.

Atesh however, had never met Cathy before, and was quite drawn to her. He held out his hand for her to shake, but Cathy denied him the opportunity.

"Hello, I'm Atesh, nice to meet you!" he said, before she spurned his hand shake gesture.

"This is Cathy, Atesh. Forgive her, Patrick has been rather unpleasant to her in the past…" Aurora said, staring a dagger into Patrick's eyes. At that moment, from the other side of the corridor, came Chris. He was clearly in a rush, his shirt untucked and his hair a mess.

"Sorry I'm late guys, got held up this morning" he said, catching his breath. He'd evidently ran all the way from Hogsmeade. He had a large love-bite on his neck, which he covered up by putting his collar up, awkwardly.

"Oh hey Chris, how's your brother?" Aurora said with some concern.

"My brother? What?" Chris said, before realising the excuse he had made the night before.

"Oh yeah, he's doing okay now, he'll be released this afternoon. Sorry, I'm not fully awake yet…" he blurted out, trying to cover up his blunder. His eyes then turned to Cathy, and he sniggered slightly as he saw the sheepish look on Patrick's face.

"Well, we should probably get to Charms before this conversation gets anymore awkward, eh lads…" Chris said quickly, noting Patrick's discomfort. He ushered the boys along, defusing the situation.

"I'll catch you at lunch Rory, stay safe!" he said, teasing her with the last part.

The three boys trooped off, and Chris tucked his shirt in, trying to make himself more presentable. Cathy was about ten yards behind them, clutching her books tightly to her chest, when suddenly, a group of first or second year students rushed past her, causing her to drop her books. The boys in front looked behind the to see the source of the commotion, with Chris and Patrick continuing to walk on after seeing what had happened. Atesh however, rushed back to help Cathy pick up her books.

"Sorry about them…" he said to her, referring to Chris and Patrick.

"They haven't learnt how to treat a lady properly yet…" he went on, handing her books to her. He smiled warmly at her, and she managed a weak smile back.

"Oh, I don't care about them, they're a pair of assholes…" Cathy said shyly. They began to walk together, some way behind the other two. Atesh wasn't sure of Cathy's history with Chris and Patrick yet, so was unsure of what she meant.

"Oh, how come? What's the story between you then?" he asked curiously. Cathy then proceeded to tell him about the incident at the ball three years ago. Atesh was taken aback by what he heard, but still found it a little confusing.

"So, you've not forgiven them after all this time?" he said to her, perplexed. Cathy looked at him blankly.

"Well… They've never come to apologise about it… I'm not going to make the first move, they're at fault here…" she said righteously.

"Sure sure… I don't think anyone questions that… But you could see how awkward Paddy was? He clearly feels bad about the whole thing, maybe he's grown up now. Maybe take just him aside and talk about it? Chris is way more stubborn and nonchalant about it, but Patrick is at least a reasonable person…" he responded, oddly scathing about Chris's personality. Atesh's response however, made Cathy giggle.

"He is a bit of a brick wall isn't he!" she said, still giggling a little, referring to Chris. The two smiled at each other, and reached the door of their charms class, taking a seat next to each other.

By the time the class had ended, Chris and Patrick hurried out of the classroom, not bothering to wait for Atesh, who was still chatting with Cathy. Patrick had to hurry off to his Ancient Runes class, but Chris had a free period. He thought that this would be as good a time as any to go and find Harry Potter, who he knew was still staying in the castle. He needed clarification on whether the Divine Light Charm had worked or not. He walked up a flight of stairs to the third floor, where the guest offices were. He walked down the corridor on his left, where Harry's temporary office was located, and knocked on the door.

"Come in" came Harry's voice. Chris entered the room, and Harry was behind a desk, working through some paperwork of some kind. He looked up and made eye contact with Chris, seemingly with no ill effects. There was no sudden look of pain on Harry's face, which was a good early indicator for Chris.

"I just thought I'd come and have a quick chat with you Mr Potter, I was a bit concerned for my own wellbeing after we last spoke. I worried myself sick if I'm honest!" Chris said tentatively. Harry pushed his glasses back onto his nose, and looked up and down Chris. He put his pen down, and took yet another moment to examine him.

"I'm sorry if I worried you, Chris. It's just rare that someone exhibits energies like you were that day," Harry replied, "However, I can't sense any such problem now, have you changed anything?"

Bingo. The charm had worked, and Chris breathed a small sigh of relief. He paused for a second to think up a potential excuse.

"Nothing different really… I did go home the weekend before I saw you, maybe I just came in contact with something weird and unexpected that time. Good to see it wasn't anything permanent…" Chris said calmly. Harry looked at him, and smiled.

"That is a possibility, but it would be very rare. But anyhow, it doesn't matter anymore, you seem to be in the clear now, Mr Iverson. Was that all you wanted to see me about?" Harry said. Chris smiled back, and turned around to leave the office.

"That's all Mr Potter, thanks for your time, I feel much more reassured now" Chris stated. He exited the office, and shut the door behind him. He couldn't wait to tell Bellatrix, and strode back down the corridor towards the stairs. To his surprise, Chris bumped into none other than Atesh on the stairs as he was headed back to the common room.

"Alright mate, haven't you got a free now?" Chris queried, slightly confused. What could Atesh want on the third floor?

"Oh, I'm just going to see Harry Potter. He's giving me some extra tuition." Came his reply.

"Ha, sure. Off you go then you suck up! Just don't be late for Quidditch practise later!" Chris said with a snigger, before walking back down the stairs. Chris arrived back at the common room, and trudged up the stairs. He walked into the main room, and joined Aurora who was sitting by herself on a sofa. She looked at Chris, and gave him a stern glare.

"Uh-oh… What did I do this time Rory?" Chris said immediately, knowing that look that she gave when she was angry. Aurora let out a small sigh, and looked at him disapprovingly.

"I can't believe you're still such a jerk when Cathy is around, you're so childish!" she said to him causing Chris to recoil slightly.

"Huh? How was I a jerk today?" he said, confused. She scowled back at him, hitting him on the arm.

"You walked over to us and started laughing when you saw she was there! We're no longer friends until you've been and apologised to her, got it?" she told him frankly. Chris looked into her eyes for a second, thinking that she must be joking.

"Come on now Rory, chill out. I was laughing at Patrick's face not Cathy!" Chris pleaded, talking quickly with panic. Aurora just looked at him and frowned.

"No, I wasn't born yesterday Chris, and I won't chill out! I'm being so serious right now. You apologise to her. And until you have, we're not on speaking terms!" she hissed at him, before standing up, spinning around and marching to her dorm.

"Oh Rory, come on! Come back!" Chris called out over the common room, but to no avail. She sighed and blinked, looking into the fireplace where a gentle fire was warming the room.

'Maybe I do need to grow up a bit… I'm eighteen now I guess…' he thought to himself, before realising that he actually did feel bad about how he'd treated Cathy in the past. She wasn't a super popular, attention-magnet like the people he usually associated himself with. But then it hit him. Neither was Aurora. Cathy was probably every bit as sweet and caring as Aurora, but Chris had just never given her the chance. Now was the time to change, Chris thought. He stood up and left the common room, cantering down the stairs leading to the corridor of the castle. He headed down several flights of stairs, eventually arriving in the kitchen corridor in the basement. He walked over to a stack of barrels, taking out his wand. He tapped the barrel second from bottom, in the middle of the second row, in the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff'. The stack of barrels swung open, and allowed him access. Chris had learned of how to enter the Hufflepuff common room the previous year, when he had paid a Hufflepuff student to let him in, in order to overhear the Hufflepuff Quidditch strategy. He entered the common room, which was a round, rustic looking room, with several big armchairs and rugs over a wooden floor. It was easily the cosiest room in the entire castle. Chris looked around the room, to his luck, spotting Cathy sitting by herself reading the Daily Prophet. Chris walked over to her and casually slumped down onto the sofa next to her. Cathy briefly looked over her newspaper, looking back down at it, before jumping, realising who had just sat down next to her.

"Iverson? What the- how did y- why are y- what?!" Cathy stammered, clearly confused. Chris just looked backed at her, gathering himself.

"Hey Cathy… I thought I'd come and find you, because I have something to tell you" he began. Cathy looked at him, taking note. She had never seen him act so serious before, he was usually loud and boisterous.

"Look, I really want to apologise for these years of bad feeling, and what happened at the ball in fourth year. We were just a couple of kids… We never stopped to think about what it might do to your feelings…" Chris said, looking her in the eyes. He didn't have his usual smirk on his face, nor did it look like he was trying to hold back laughter. Cathy looked at him in a stunned silence. She had never seen him ever act sincere before.

"Chris I… You really upset me that day. And the way you made me feel when we pass each other in the corridors. I just can't believe it's taken you this long to realise that…" she said, looking slightly uneasy. She looked into his green eyes, not wanting to trust him. But just from his eyes, she could tell that he was being honest. This wasn't just one of Chris's flippant throwaway apologies he gave out whenever he was told too. He genuinely meant it.

"The way I'd want to chat to Aurora, or we'd just be going to class, and I'd hear you and Patrick sniggering to yourselves, that made me feel awful" she continued. Chris looked back at her, feeling a million twangs of guilt all at once.

"Cathy, honestly, I'm so sorry. Could you ever forgive me? If you're one of Rory's friends, then you're clearly a wonderful person, I'd like to try and put this behind us? But if you don't want to, then I understand…" Chris said, almost choking up. The realisation that Aurora had sparked inside of him had startled him.

"Well, Aurora isn't such a great judge of friends; she hangs around with you and Patrick after all…" Cathy said coldly.

'Holy shi- that burn' Chris began to think, before Cathy broke out into a smile in front of him. She was obviously joking.

"Oh my god… You'd fit right in with us, y'know…" Chris said quietly. Cathy grinned back at him, and to his surprised, outstretched her arms, inviting him for a hug. Chris accepted, and hugged Cathy.

"Honestly though, it means a lot that you came to find me, I'm grateful, honestly. Just try not to be such a dick in future…" Cathy said, giggling to herself. Chris smiled back at her.

"I should get going, I have Quidditch practise to prepare for this afternoon. I'll catch you around yeah? You should come and hang out with us on the grounds tomorrow; we always chill outside after lessons are finished on Fridays. It'd be nice if you could come!" Chris said friendlily.

"Maybe I will!" Cathy said back happily as Chris stood up. Chris simply smiled back at her, and turned on his heel, leaving the common room.


	7. Chapter 7

There was a full moon out on a rainy March night, illuminating several parts of Spinners End. Chris lay in bed, still awake, holding a naked, fast asleep Bellatrix in his arms. The rain was hammering down onto the window ledges outside their bedroom, and a few surges of lightning intermittently flashed, lighting the room. He kissed the top of her forehead as she gently slept, listening to her soft breathing. He looked at his phone, which was sat on the bedside table. Three in the morning. He put his head back down onto the pillow and closed his eyes.

Back at the castle, a similar storm was in action. Like Chris, Aurora was still wide awake. She couldn't sleep through storms. She sat on the end of her bed, legs folded, playing with her pink locks. She had begun getting very lonely at nights. Before Chris had met Bellatrix, Chris would stay up with Aurora when she couldn't sleep, purely to keep her company. She had a couple of nights like this without him, and she really missed the old times. She got up slowly from her bed, and put her dressing gown on. She walked down the stairs to the common room, and to her surprise, found Atesh sat on one of the sofas, looking through some documents that it seemed had just been written. She walked over to him and sat down opposite him. Atesh jumped, and quickly hid the documents away from her.

"Ohh, Rory, you made me jump!" Atesh said startled.

Aurora gave him an inquisitive, suspicious look.

"What've you got there? It has the Ministry of Magic logo on it…" she said curiously.

"Oh, it's nothing important… Just some stuff for a potential job after I graduate…" he said awkwardly.

For the first time since she'd known him, she didn't trust him. His whole body language was just wrong. But she didn't want to kick up a fuss, she wasn't that sort of person, until it came to Chris.

"Hmm… Sure. How come you're up at this time?" she said, changing the subject.

"Oh, I can't sleep in thunderstorms" he replied "Is that why you're awake too?"

Aurora didn't smile as she normally would when talking to friends. She just looked, stone-faced, back at him.

"Yeah, same as me. I don't like that lightning. It frightens me" She said dryly "Anyway, I'm going to try and get back to sleep…"

Aurora stood up, and walked back up the stairs to her dormitory.

The next morning, Aurora woke up to a familiar face. Chris was sat in the chair next to her bed, looking out of the window.

"C-Chris? You're back early?" she said groggily, before letting out a yawn. Chris looked back at her and smiled.

"I'm really sorry Rory, I wasn't here for you last night during the storm. I thought I'd be here for you when you woke up" he said, still smiling. Aurora smiled back at him appreciatively. He really did care for her.

"I'll go and get you a cup of tea Rory" Chris said warmly. "Two seconds" he said, getting up and walking down the stairs.

He walked into the common room, which was deserted, apart from Atesh, who was still sat on the sofa. However, he was fast asleep. Chris walked over to him and slapped him on the side of his head, waking him.

"Long night was it?" Chris asked keenly. Atesh jumped into life, looking around him. His eyes came to Chris, and he realised what had woken him up.

"You're a dick, Chris…" he said irritated.

"Whatever, you want a cup of tea?" Chris replied, pointing at the kettle that sat next to a sink in the corner of the room.

"Uh sure…" he replied. Whilst the kettle was boiling, Chris walked over and sat next to Atesh.

"Why do you go home EVERY weekend?" Atesh asked him, curiously.

Chris looked at him, and took a deep breath. He trusted Atesh now. He'd been part of the group for half a year. He felt it was safe.

"Ok, Atesh. I can trust you, right?" he said cautiously.

Atesh looked into Chris's eyes, and nodded firmly.

"I've not been going home every weekend dude… I've been going to see someone." Chris said, finally breaking the myth.

"Oh shit son… Who have you been going to see?" Atesh responded, his eyes widening. Chris looked back at him, taking another deep breath.

"Promise me you won't tell a single soul… And that you won't freak out too…" Chris said quietly, looking sternly at him. Atesh nodded.

"I've been… Seeing a former Death Eater…" he said, pausing in the middle of the sentence.

Atesh's eyes widened. He looked Chris up and down, his jaw dropping. He all of a sudden broke into a grin.

"Oh man, you almost had me going there Chris, nice one!" he joked, under the impression that Chris was joking with him. Chris merely kept a straight, stern face and looked back at Atesh.

"Atesh… I'm not joking. I'm… In a relationship with Bellatrix Lestrange" he responded. He watched the expression on Atesh's face change again.

"Lestrange… Are you serious? You're not joking?" Atesh said cautiously.

"I'm being one hundred percent serious" Chris said, with the utmost seriousness in his voice. "There's a house we go to, every weekend, I can't tell you where. But it's in a muggle town. No one else knows. And no one else can know. I realise what this must sound like, but genuinely, she's the most amazing lady I've ever known. She's not what she's made out to be…"

Atesh's eyes were wide open again, he was speechless.

"She appeared to me as, sort of an apparition, which only I could see. She tried to kill me when I first met her, but she was weak. I overpowered her, and she was stunned. I ended up fucking her in the dark forest, and then in our dorm a week later…" Chris explained, nervously. He was in too deep with Atesh now; he may as well tell him everything.

"She took me to the house a week later, and the more we got to know each other, the more I saw her change, and her inner-side revealed itself to me. She's misunderstood, but we love each other. And she's insanely beautiful…" Chris went on, all the while Atesh was completely stunned.

"I couldn't tell anyone for obvious reasons, you're the only other person who knows…" Chris finished.

Atesh exhaled a deep breath, and ran his hand through his hair stressfully.

"I… I don't know what to say Chris. But somehow it's working… So I'll trust your judgment… But I warn you, she wasn't sent to Azkaban for something as simple as petty theft…" he said carefully. With that, Atesh stood up, and made his way to the dormitory.

"I gotta get some sleep dude, catch you tomorrow." Atesh said as he headed up the stairs.

Chris sat there for a little while longer, taking in what had just happened. He had broken his silence. He somehow felt more comfortable that it was Atesh that knew, over Aurora or Patrick. Aurora would simply panic, whilst Patrick would be too nonchalant about it. After half an hour, Chris trudged up to bed himself.

The next week went by fairly uniformly. Lessons came and went, as did Quidditch practise. It was April now, and the weather was starting to become much more pleasant. The group was sat outside by the lake, joined by a fifth. Cathy was there, hanging out with the group. She was sat in between Chris and Atesh, chatting with the group. It seemed that Aurora's words to Chris really had been a bit of a wakeup call to him. An hour later, Atesh stood up, and beckoned to Cathy.

"Oh, are you two going somewhere?" Aurora asked quizzically, looking at them both.

Atesh looked at Cathy, who turned slightly pink in the face.

"We're actually going to Hogsmeade. We wanted to try out the food at the Hog's Head…" Atesh said slowly. This response triggered a whole variety of reactions from Chris, Patrick and Aurora. Chris sniggered, whilst Patrick and Aurora's jaws dropped.

"Oh my… You're going on a d-date?" Aurora blurted out, taken aback.

Chris turned to look at Patrick, and they grinned broadly at each other.

"I never knew Cathy liked guys of a foreign persuasion!" Chris said through subdued laughter, before he and Patrick burst into childish laughter. Aurora stepped in, and slapped the closest one of the two round the head, which happened to be Patrick.

"Oh you two! Stop it!" she said sternly. She looked back at Atesh and Cathy, brimming with excitement.

"Oh my! Have a good time you two! I'm so excited!" she blurted out again, so quickly that it almost sounded like one whole word. The two of them turned and walked away in the direction of the castle, and Aurora squeaked with excitement. With Atesh and Cathy almost out of view, the two of them held hands, bringing even more delight to Aurora's face.

"Awwww they're sooooo cute!" she said, grinning wildly.

"I feel a bit sick actually…" Patrick said in jest. Chris lay backwards, before checking his watch automatically.

"Oh man, I've just seen the time. I've got Astronomy to get too, I'm gonna be late… Catch you guys in a bit!" Chris exclaimed, frustrated. He got to his feet and slung his bag over his shoulder.

"You're so disorganised!" Aurora said strictly to him. Chris's cheeks turned a little red, and he looked at her sheepishly.

"I'm sorry Rory…" he said quietly. He turned on his heels and strode off towards the castle. Aurora looked at Patrick for a moment, and he moved his head to face her.

"Guess it's just me and you the Paddy" Aurora said to him.

"Yeah, everyone's certainly fucked off haven't they." He replied in his usual laid back style. The pair of them chatted for a few more minutes, before deciding to head back to the castle.

Chris arrived back at the common room, looking around. He saw Patrick and Aurora sat at one of the chess tables in the middle of the room, engrossed in a game. Chris went over to the kettle, which looked like it had just been boiled. He made himself a cup of tea and went over to the other two. Aurora was clearly winning, she had a long winning streak over her opponent. Patrick was visibly frustrated.

"Rory, surely you're going to have to let him win one sooner or later? Look at his little face!" Chris said teasingly. Patrick's face simply turned a little more red, and he punched Chris's arm.

"Shut up man, this is not funny!" Patrick replied stressfully.

"Hey guys, I'll be back in two seconds, I just gotta grab my homework from upstairs." Chris said. He walked over to the stairs, and slowly walked up them. He hated Arithmancy homework. He had a dislike for numbers, but his family had always been good with them, be it mathematics in muggle education, or Arithmancy at Hogwarts. He slowly walked up the stairs, putting off his homework that little bit longer, before reaching the door. He walked through and over to his bed. The scene waiting for him stunned him. His possessions had been turned upside down, various things scattered over his bed and the floor around his space. He looked around, his hands on his head. He assumed that this was a prank from someone in Ravenclaw, but then he saw something that made him feel physically sick. The drawers on his bedside table were open and the contents rearranged, as if someone had looked through. He ran over to the table, and looked through all of the drawers. The notes from Bellatrix were gone. Chris's heart rate suddenly accelerated higher than he'd ever known before. He steadied himself on the wall, and took several deep breaths.

'Holy fucking shit!' Chris thought, bringing his hands to his face and rubbing his eyes. But after another moment, his stomach was churning too much. He ran to the bathroom, locked himself in a cubicle and vomited out of sheer terror. This was the biggest disaster that Chris could have possibly encountered. Bellatrix had written the location of the house on one of the notes. That would lead them right to her. Chris didn't have much time to think. He changed out of his robes and into his muggle attire. He grabbed his wallet and his phone, stuffing them into his pockets, grabbing his hoodie and hastily put it on. He HAD to get to her. She could be in trouble. Once he had his things, he turned and strode down the stairs. He passed Patrick and Aurora without saying a word to them, despite Aurora calling after him. He cantered down the stairs to the exit, and broke into a run down the corridor. He sprinted to the front gates of the castle, and ran full pelt down the track to Hogsmeade. A couple of people tried to get his attention on the way, but he simply ignored them. Where he was going was infinitely more important. He arrived in Hogsmeade, and took a second to catch his breath. It was a long run, but adrenaline kept him going the entire way. After steadying himself, he gripped his wand tightly and apparated to Spinners End. The street corner where he always landed looked no different than normal. There was a dark cloud overhead, and it was drizzling with rain. Numerous muggles passed him by, taking no notice of him. As much as he wanted to sprint as fast as he could down the street to the house, he knew he couldn't. That would draw to much attention to the house. He gripped his wand tightly in his pocket, and walked down the street. A million and one thoughts were going through his head. Who had been through his things? And why? His immediate answer was Harry Potter, but he hadn't been at Hogwarts for some time. He collected his thoughts, and arrived at the door. It was locked, and there was no sign of disturbance. He took out his wand, and tapped the lock three times, as per usual. To his surprise, and slight horror, the door didn't unlock. Something wasn't right.

"_Alohomora_!" Chris said under his breath, tapping the lock once more. Again, the door didn't unlock. Chris was running out of options. He took a step back, and looked around. The rain that was steadily becoming heavier had forced people indoors. There was no one else around on the street.

'Fuck this…' Chris thought to himself, taking another step back.

"_Reducto!"_ Chris incanted firmly. A blue bolt of light shot out of the end of his wand, caving the door in. He moved the debris aside and rushed inside. He was cautious about being seen, so decided it would be best to rectify the door situation. He pointed his wand at the remains of the door.

"_Reparo!"_

The door then molded itself back together, and refitted itself to the hinges. Chris shut the door and locked it behind him.

He turned and looked around the living room of the house, and there were no signs of a struggle. But Chris just knew something was wrong. He could feel it. And the door being under a new charm was somewhat of a giveaway. He moved slowly, taking long strides, but being careful to make no noise, and reached the doorway to the kitchen. It was open, and Chris peered through slowly. Again, the room was empty. Again, he slowly moved into the room, it becoming increasingly more difficult to keep his breathing quiet. His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. He stood in the middle of the room, still no signs of a fight. Chris's heart skipped a beat when he glanced at the table. There was a half-drunk wine glass on the table, with Bellatrix's lipstick around the rim. He moved to the table, and picked up the glass. It was still cool, someone had been drinking from it very recently. Chris's mind was in absolute turmoil. He put the glass back on the table, and made his way to the open door which lead to the staircase. At the bottom of the stairs, he could hear voices upstairs. One of them was clearly Bellatrix's. But he had to maintain his cautious approach. He pointed his wand at the stairs, and incanted under his breath.

"_Silencia_"

This was a modified version of the silencing charm, which he had adapted slightly to cover up noise that objects would make, not just other life forms. He knew from experience that the stairs were prone to creaking when being walked on. He slowly began to walk up the stairs, and the charm proved successful. He arrived at the top of the stairs, to the top floor corridor. He walked steadily down the corridor and arrived at the door to their bedroom. It was almost shut, but was slightly ajar. Chris waited by the wall, listening in to the voices. The second voice was one that he didn't recognise. It was deep and raspy, a smoker's voice.

"I'm telling you the truth… I have changed. I'm a completely different person now, just give me a chance!" came a desperate plea from Bellatrix's voice.

"After all you've done… You don't get to just make requests like that. You're one of the most dangerous and maniacal killers of our time, you can't be allowed to live." Came the unknown voice. This startled Chris, he had to act. He moved to the door, and slowly pushed it open. Bellatrix was stood there, her hands above her head, facing the door. Another figure was facing her, looking away from the door. He was pointing Bellatrix's wand at her, like a police officer would arrest an offender. Chris pointed his wand at the figures back, and Bellatrix gasped as her eyes met Chris.

"Chris!" She said in a high pitched whimper, prompting the figure to spin around to face Chris.

Chris's jaw almost hit the floor. It was Atesh. He simply looked sternly into Chris's eyes.

"Atesh, w-what? What are you doing here? I t-trusted you!" Chris said, almost lost for words. Atesh looked seriously back at Chris's face.

"Chris… As your friend, I have a duty of care to you. This woman is dangerous. She doesn't love you. She's manipulating you for her own gain. This can't continue." He said calmly. Bellatrix contorted her face, her big, round eyes looking straight into Chris's.

"Chris he's lying, you have to trust me!" she said to him, her voice trembling with despair.

"Bella, I believe you, don't worry. I love you. Atesh, please, we can work this out. Trust me, she's different. She's not like you think, let's talk about this!" Chris pleaded. Atesh lowered his wand from Bellatrix, and looked at Chris, as if instructing him to do the same. Chris cautiously lowered his wand as well.

"Chris you have to understand something…" Atesh began.

"This lady… Was basically the second most dangerous, evil, and deranged person alive, behind only Voldemort himself. Do you honestly think that she would change for some eighteen year old kid? That's not realistic now, is it?"

Chris stared into Atesh's dark eyes. Every fibre of his being was telling him that Atesh was wrong. He knew Bellatrix. They'd been together for longer than he'd known Atesh. Their chemistry was electric, their love-making was so intense that it couldn't come without genuine, and extremely powerful feelings for one another. Chris knew this. But Atesh would never understand, because he simply wasn't experiencing what Chris had with Bellatrix.

"Atesh… You're just wrong. I don't know how to convince you. All I can ask is that you trust me. Come on… We've been through a lot. School, Quidditch, we're bonded. Me, you, Rory and Paddy. Does that mean nothing to you? The friendship we built up… And you can't even trust me over this? I've never been more serious about anything in my life before. Can't you see that? You can't allow me to be happy? And, even by some slim chance, say that you're right. Let me find out for myself. We'll cross that bridge if it ever comes to it. But I'm telling you, it will never come to that."

Atesh took a step back, taking himself out from between them, forming a triangle. He raised his wand in between the Chris and Bellatrix. Chris raised his wand to almost as a reflex action.

"I'm sorry Chris, but this is bigger than me and you."

There was a moments pause, before everything came to a climax.

There was a swish of a wand, followed by a shouted incantation.

"_AVADA KEDAVRA!" _

A bright flash of green light lit up the room, and a piercing shriek was heard.

A dull thud was heard as a body hit the floor…


End file.
